“UT Junior” chants could be heard all night paired with “horns down” hand gestures as No. 4 Tennessee throttled No. 10 Texas, 82-71 on Saturday night and led by as many as 22.
In the final SEC/Big 12 challenge, the Vols made the SEC proud at home. Though the SEC lost the challenge, it still won the challenge’s marquee matchup with ESPN’s College GameDay in attendance.
Here are some takeaways from the Vols’ win.
Olivier Nkamhoua and Zakai Zeigler combine for 49 points
The two best individual performances of the Vols’ happened on the same night.
Olivier Nkamhoua was dominant all night, and showed what he is capable of on any given night. He didn’t waver at any point, finishing with a career high 27 points and added eight rebounds, three assists and a block.
“He was absolutely terrific,” Barnes said. “And it started yesterday in practice. I think without question yesterday is the best practice and since he’s been here.
“I just hope this gives him the kind of confidence that he can keep going on with because he works and you guys know that he loves the game and he works at it when he deserves this night.”
In the backcourt, Zakai Zeigler was just as good, recording his third career double-double. There was a point at the 4:12 mark in the first half till the 15:42 mark in the second half where those two were the only Vols to score. In that stretch, they combined for a staggering 24 points.
Zeigler ended with a near career high with 22 points and to go with 10 assists — six of hem to Nkamhoua, including an early alley oop that rocked Thompson-Boling Arena.
“I have a great relationship with Olivier off the court. “We always — no matter where, we can be eating food and we’ll just start talking about basketball,” Zeigler said. “I felt like it was at that point off the court where we just got closer and closer on the court.”
An environment that would make Neyland proud
Outside of the Kentucky game, the environment inside Thompson-Boling Arena hasn’t been up to par. That’s partly due to the fact that all of the best opponents the Vols have faced have been on the road or at neutral sites.
Tonight, however, was electric. There were times that it felt like the energy given off by Neyland, and the Vols fed off of it all night. At one point in the beginning of the game, the crowd even forced a shot clock violation.
“I love playing in TBA when it’s rocking. I love playing in other gyms when it’s rocking with a nice home crowd or away crowd,” Nkamhoua said. “I love when the fans are there and showing out. You know I really appreciate our fans because they do it consistently and I feel like they love doing it and the energy that they bring brings us energy.”
The Vols’ offense reaches a new level
The Vols played one of their most complete games of the season. In some games this year, they’ve come out cold in the first half and heat up later. In some, it’s the other way around.
Tonight was near dominance from tip-off to the last buzzer.
Defensively — though they allowed 70 points — was stout as usual, and the offense was clicking, as well. However, the thing that separates this offensive performance from others was that it wasn’t reliant on hot shooting.
Tennessee was only 6-19 from deep, but still managed to record 82 points on the night thanks to patience and pounding the ball inside.
