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Tennessee Basketball: Vols’ 2022-23 team defense is in historic territory

By Cooper Watson

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 14: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers stands on the court before their game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 14, 2023 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 14: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers stands on the court before their game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 14, 2023 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee Basketball (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
Tennessee Basketball (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images) /

After Tennessee Basketball’s 11-point win over No. 10 Texas on Saturday, the Volunteers jumped to No. 1 in KenPom.com’s rankings and No. 2 in January 30th’s updated AP Top 25.

Although Texas still lost by double-digits, they were just the third team to score at least 70 points on Tennessee this season, joining Arizona and Colorado. In fact, Tennessee has held 15 of its 21 opponents under 60 points and eight of those under 50 points. The Vols lead the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 54.5 points per game.

Tennessee is 18-3, having won 14 of those games by double digits and 11 by 20 or more points. In SEC play, only two teams have scored 60 or more points against Tennessee with neither reaching the 70-point threshold.

Tennessee has been more than good this season – they’ve been dominant, despite a few slipups.

Although traditional statistics such as opponent points per game are useful, they can be skewed by several factors, namely tempo. Logically, the team that plays at the slowest tempo in the country will hold its opponents to fewer points per game than the team that leads the nation in tempo. That does not mean they are a better defensive team, it just means they play at a slower pace.

To account for those differences in tempo, we can use efficiency-based metrics. This is where Tennessee’s defense goes from excellent to historically great.

Tennessee is No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency (AdjDE) on KenPom.com by a wide margin, holding opponents to just 82.7 points per 100 possessions when adjusting for competition. Rutgers is currently No. 2 at 87.7, which puts them closer to UConn at No. 15 than to Tennessee at No. 1.

If the season ended today, the Vols’ AdjDE of 82.7 would be the lowest in the history of KenPom.com, which tracks data going back to 1997. Only three teams in the last decade have finished with an AdjDE below 85 – Texas Tech in 2019 (84.1), Kentucky in 2015 (84.4) and Louisville in 2013 (84.8). Texas Tech went to the national championship, Kentucky finished the season 38-1 and Louisville won the national title.

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