Every kind of team possesses its own demons.
For Tennessee basketball, committing turnovers has been a haunting entity since day one. After the Vols’ 89-66 win over Oklahoma, though, head coach Rick Barnes can see some consistency in his exorcisms. His group tied a season low, amassing only seven giveaways against the Sooners.
For the first time since late November, Tennessee can look at a turnover column showing only one digit in back-to-back contests.
“It’s what we’ve been preaching all year,” Barnes said. “We lead the league in offensive rebounding, but you can’t do that if you keep turning the ball over. We knew if we gave them a lot of opportunities off turnovers, that they would make us pay. It was a critical thing that we’ve been talking about all year, hope that we can build on it.”
Building on it is the hard part. The Vols entered their Wednesday matchup averaging 12.6 giveaways per game, a mark that tabbed them 277th in the nation. The seven blunders against Oklahoma resulted in just the sixth time Tennessee’s giveaway total resided in the single digits all season. No one on the roster committed multiple turnovers.
Tennessee implemented its ideal winning formula. The country’s top offensive rebounding team did so to the tune of a 15-6 margin, making the most of each possession without cancelling many out by coughing up the basketball. The Vols held the visitors to seven points off their turnovers in a category Tennessee dominated to ultimately serve as the main difference maker on the scoreboard.
“Y’all saw what we can be if we take care of the ball,” forward Nate Ament said. “Just learning how to be aggressive, but also learning how to be smart, take care of the ball. Coach says all the time we play super hard, but we’re not the smartest team. For us, it’s learning how to be smart.”
The Vols’ heightened wisdom shone through on a night where clean passing took center stage. Tennessee eclipsed 20 total assists for the first time this campaign against a Power Four opponent, distributing the wealth for a balanced scoring attack. Point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie amassed eight dishes while the rest of the starters notched at least a pair.
The lob play reemerged as one of the key cogs of Barnes’s offensive scheme on a career 18-point night for center Felix Okpara, one of the telltale signs for success the Vols display when they are firing on all cylinders.
“I’ve been throwing him some lobs in practice, trying to get used to it,” Gillespie said. “I feel like it definitely showed up tonight.”
Everything starts with ball security. Tennessee forced the Sooners into 15 turnovers, acting as the imposing team in a scenario that the Vols themselves have been on the opposite side of more often than not this year.
“We were just focused on getting a shot and running good offense every possession,” Gillespie said. “Making every possession count. I feel like we were just, all really locked in on that part.”
