It was Tennessee’s first road game in two weeks, and given the shooting disparity, you would think the Vols were the ones playing at home Saturday. UT took advantage of a red-hot early start to cruise to a dominating 70-52 win over the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, Okla., Saturday afternoon.
Rick Barnes’ team, ranked No. 4 in both polls, extended their winning streak to three games by hitting 14 of their first 16 shots, including their first five three-point attempts. At the heart of that start was Chaz Lanier, who scored 13 points in the first 10 minutes, hitting his first three three-pointers.
That helped UT build a 45-25 halftime lead, and then they took their foot off the gas in the second half. Lanier cooled off, missing his final seven three-point attempts but still finishing with 21 points. Zakai Zeigler, however, also continued his red-hot shooting, going 3-of-4 from three with 17 points.
While UT shot 29-of-48 from the field on the day and 9-of-21 from three, defense was the name of the game for the Vols as well. OU shot 17-of-53 from the field and 6-of-23 from three. At the heart of the defense was Felix Okpara, who had four blocks. Ziegler did help with four steals.
Contesting shots and shooting well themselves helped the Vols overcome 19 turnovers. Now, the question becomes whether or not this scoring output by Lanier and efficient shooting by Ziegler can continue. A big part of that is the interior.
Although Okpara and Igor Milicic Jr. only had eight points apiece, they were a combined 6-of-9 inside, forcing teams to respect their play down low. That combined with Lanier being aggressive early left a lot more wide open shots for Ziegler, which is why he was able to take advantage.
With the win, Tennessee improves to 20-4 and 7-4 in the SEC. They will visit the No. 14 ranked Kentucky Wildcats in a revenge game on Tuesday. Porter Moser’s Sooners, meanwhile, fall to 16-7 and 3-7 in the SEC with a visit to the Missouri Tigers set for next Wednesday.
