Tennessee basketball had struggled on the road early in SEC play this season. There was no sign of that on Saturday afternoon as the Vols played one of their best games of the season and blitzed Oklahoma 70-52 in Norman.
Chaz Lanier led another strong offensive performance while Tennessee’s defense rose to the challenge and shut down a strong Oklahoma offense.
Here’s three quick takeaways on the win.
Tennessee Builds Off Of Wednesday’s Offensive Explosion
After a multiple game stretch where Tennessee’s offense struggled, the Vols’ offense broke out in the second half of their comeback win over Missouri on Wednesday night. That strong offense continued into the first half of Tennessee’s matchup against Oklahoma.
It was just about all working for Tennessee against Oklahoma with the Vols making 15 of their first 17 shots from the field and their first five three-point attempts.
Tennessee was able to break Oklahoma’s perimeter defense down with dribble-drive penetration. Zakai Zeigler had five assists by the first media timeout and when the Sooners dared him to finish, Zeigler made a pair of tough driving layup.
The only thing that slowed down Tennessee’s offense was turnover issues. Tennessee turned it over seven times in the first half and 19 times over the course of the game. The Vols had one stretch in the second half where they turned it over on three straight possessions but when they took care of the ball the offense looked pretty.
Tennessee’s offense slowed down relatively significantly in the second half but its lead was so big that it mattered little. They finished the game scoring 1.129 points per possession.
Chaz Lanier Gets Going
A big part of Tennessee’s offensive success was the play of Chaz Lanier. The Vols’ explosive scorer has been up-and-down so far in SEC play but he got it going from the jump against the Sooners.
Lanier hit his first five shots from the field including a trio of three-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game. The three-point shooting was great and that is and will continue to be Lanier’s bread-and-butter. But it was what Lanier did when his perimeter shooting slowed down that was mot encouraging.
He got to the basket and scored a handful of times including getting out in transition and getting open looks. Then most surprising was the bit of facilitating he had.
Lanier entered the game with just three total assists in SEC play but he had two assists against the Sooners. It wasn’t anything crazy but he had one nice drive where he found Jordan Gainey for an open triple. If Lanier can be just a little bit more of a facilitating threat it could really help Tennessee’s offense.
Lanier finished the game with 21 points on nine-of-17 shooting from the field. If Tennessee’s offense is going to be near its best, they need Lanier to be a scoring threat.
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Slowing Down Jeremiah Fears Leads To Elite Defensive Outing
While Oklahoma has not been a good defensive team this season, they have been a good offensive team and entered the day ranked 15th in adjusted offensive efficiency.
But Tennessee’s defense absolutely stifled the Sooners, holding them to just 52 points and a poor .839 points per possession.
Things for Tennessee’s defense started with slowing down Jeremiah Fears. The freshman guard ranks top 20 nationally in usage rate and the Sooners run their offense through him. The combo guard did enter the game banged up from an injury at Auburn on Tuesday night but Tennessee absolutely shut him down.
With Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler leading the way, Tennessee held Fears to eight points on 40% shooting. He also had just one assist to three turnovers.
The Vols just played harassing defense and combined to block eight shots and record eight steals. Oklahoma’s 50 points was its lowest of the season.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee basketball heads back on the road Tuesday night when they face rival Kentucky at Rupp Arena. Tipoff between the Vols and Sooners is at 7 p.m. ET and ESPN is broadcasting the game.
