Rick Barnes shared a well-known saying on Wednesday. He explained, “When the ball goes in, everything looks good.” On Saturday, things indeed looked very impressive.
The number four-ranked Vols traveled to Oklahoma and overwhelmed the Sooners with a powerful first-half offense, then held their famous strong defense for the entire 40 minutes. The game ended with a 70-52 victory at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Chaz Lanier was the top scorer for the Vols (20-4, 7-4 SEC) with 21 points, including three made three-pointers. Zakai Zeigler contributed 17 points and nine assists. He also grabbed four rebounds and made four steals against the Sooners (16-7, 3-7).
The Vols Silenced Another Strong Offense
In recent weeks, the Vols have faced several teams with top-ranked offenses. Their performance against Oklahoma on Saturday resembled their strong showings against Auburn and Florida in previous weeks.
Tennessee limited Oklahoma’s shooting to just 32.1 percent and allowed only 6 made three-pointers out of 23 attempts. Oklahoma’s freshman star Jeremiah Fears scored eight points but missed all three of his three-point shots. Jalon Moore, the Sooners’ leading scorer, had 12 points on 12 shots. Before Saturday, the two combined for more than 30 points per game.
On January 25, Tennessee held Auburn to just 53 points in a close 53-51 loss, which was Auburn’s lowest scoring game of the season. Then, on February 1, Tennessee shut down Florida with a 64-44 win, limiting the Gators to their season-low in scoring. Florida had never scored fewer than 70 points in any game before facing the Vols in Knoxville.
Tennessee Found No Trouble Making Three-Pointers
During the first 10 minutes of the game, Tennessee only took three shots from beyond the arc, all made by Lanier. The Vols performed well against Oklahoma’s defense, ranked fifth-best in three-point defense nationally. Tennessee finished the game making 9 out of 21 three-point attempts, following a strong 10-for-15 three-point shooting performance against Missouri.
The Vols started very hot from the three-point line, hitting their first five attempts. After Lanier’s three triples to start, Darlinstone Dubar and Jordan Gainey each made one, keeping the momentum.
This strong three-point shooting was part of a great offensive start. Tennessee made 14 of their first 16 field goals, which helped them lead 33-19 early and maintain a lead of over 20 points through much of the second half.
Too Many Turnovers Hurt Tennessee
The Vols made eight straight field goals to push their lead to 33-19 with 8 minutes and 57 seconds left in the first half. After that, they did not attempt any field goals for the next three and a half minutes.
Tennessee’s offense lost flow during this stretch because of turnovers. They had four turnovers without a single field goal attempt during that time. By the end of the game, the Vols had a total of 19 turnovers.
Zeigler committed four turnovers, while Igor Milicic Jr. and Gainey had three each. Bishop Boswell had three turnovers in just five minutes on the court.
