The Tennessee Volunteers had played the Kentucky Wildcats nearly 250 times in the history of the two storied programs before Friday night's Sweet 16 matchup. And the Volunteers came out on top in one of the biggest matchups. 

Tennessee, led by star guard Zakai Zeigler, got the best of Kentucky on Friday night, knocking off the Wildcats, 78-65, to advance to the Elite Eight. 

The victory set Tennessee up with a massive matchup against No. 1 seed Houston on Sunday afternoon. 

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes is in his 10th season at the helm of the program, and while he's reached the Sweet 16 three times and the Elite Eight once, he's never broken through to the Final Four. 

Barnes shared a message with his teammate in the locker room after the win over Kentucky. 

“It’s the first time we’ve guarded them all year, you did a great job of that, great job, but you know what we came to do," Barnes said. "You know what we came to do. Again, great effort, great intensity, but we got one more. Got one more.”

Tennessee is in the midst of a 30-7 (12-6 SEC) season, advancing to the SEC championship game and earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Volunteers have knocked off No. 15 Wofford, No. 7 UCLA and No. 3 Kentucky to reach the Elite Eight. 

A dominant defense, allowing an SEC-best 62.9 points per game, will be tested by the Big 12 champion. But Barnes is confident in his team. 

“Again, you guys did a great job mentally," Barnes said. "You did a great job just from an intelligence standpoint with the scouting report, emotional, and all of that. Now we got one day to get ready to do it again. As we keep going, what do I keep talking about all the time? It’s toughness. It’s toughness, okay? Toughness in every area. Emotional, every area. We gotta settle down early, but again, we got more to do. We got more to do."

Tennessee and Houston are slated to tip off at 2:20 p.m. EST on Sunday, and the winner will advance to the Final Four.