Tennessee basketball ended Oklahoma’s quick two-game winning streak Wednesday night, rolling past the Sooners 89-66 in Knoxville.
Following the game, Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser discussed Nate Ament living up to the hype, the Sooners’ offensive issues and much more. Here’s everything Moser said.
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On Tennessee scoring 31 points off 15 Oklahoma turnovers
“Yeah, we just talked about it. Probably the biggest storyline, 31 points off turnovers. I thought they do an excellent job of just coming and grabbing the ball if you over dribble, and we over dribbled. We went too deep without making a single pass, and they make you pay. And whether it was in transition, tapping it back, whether it was us going too deep, they do an outstanding job of converging on the ball, and you got to get it out of your hand, and we didn’t. You can’t spot a team 31 points off turnovers, and have that difference in offensive rebounding. I mean, those two storylines right there. We had a chance to cut it to five, I think, with 7:42, and we just obviously, the not being able to get stops down the stretch and their defense down the stretch. But the other thing is, the five spot. Between (Jaylen) Carey, (Felix) Okpara and (DeWayne) Brown, I think they had 38 points. Our three five-men had zero.”
On why Tennessee was able to hold Oklahoma to its second-fewest points (66) in SEC play:
“Tennessee’s uber physical. Their size and their toughness on their guards. I thought (Ja’Kobi) Gillespie and (Bishop) Boswell refused to get screened. I love that trait about those guys. That’s a great trait. They refused to get screened. And, you know, I thought they were uber physical, and then they had bigs. They could switch. The bigs could switch on ball screens, and I thought they did that. So it wasn’t one of those nights where we said, ‘Oh, we just didn’t make shots.’ I thought Tennessee forced us (into) that. I thought they were more physical, and their length bothered us. And we turned it over, and all the turnovers led to baskets.”
On Tennessee freshman forward Nate Ament’s ability to pass
“Yeah, he’s a multiple-threat player. I mean his length off the dribble, his length to shoot, he’s got a mid-range game. And then I don’t know how many assists he had tonight — three assists, one steal, 29 points. I mean, he’s terrific. He’s every bit as advertised.
“And, you know, I didn’t look at him as non-physical. I mean, I know Coach Barnes and their staff, and being in this program, I thought he was physical. I thought he could take a bump on him and still score through contact. You know, I thought he scored through contact tonight. Just a tough matchup. You could just see the kid’s confidence going (up). Unfortunately, we added to that confidence.”
On Tennessee forward Felix Okpara being able to defend on the perimeter with his wing span
“It’s really unique. And then he’s got discipline, too. When you drive and get to the basket, you shot fake, he was staying down, waiting for it, waiting for it, and then he goes. Just a phenomenal defender with that length. So I thought, you know, Ament’s length, his length, Carey’s physicality, he got such deep position, you’re trying to release and get around him, and just a lot of weapons that they completely took advantage of us tonight.
“But, you know, Okpara’s defense, you know, just affects so much. Credit them. We had been playing offensively very, very well. The last five games, I think we’re one of the top offensive efficiency teams in the country. They had that stat come out, and not tonight. It was Tennessee’s defense.”
On what Tennessee’s defense did to take Oklahoma junior guard Xzayvier Brown out of the game
“I thought X was trying so hard that sometimes, when you see the pressure, you got to get it out and then play on the weak side. They were very physical with them. I love X. I thought, he just — their physicality, their length, and then switching on the ball screens were all issues.”
