Zakai Zeigler intercepted a South Carolina pass, dished a behind-the-back pass to Olivier Nkamhoua, who threw down a one-handed slam to increase Tennessee’s lead to 41 and effectively end the game with 11 minutes to go.
The No. 8 Vols routed South Carolina 85-43 Saturday afternoon behind another all-around dominant performance and a perfect game from Nkamhoua.
Nkamhoua got hot early, hitting a three in the first minute of the game and following it up with a perfect first half, going 5-for-5 from the field for 11 points. He didn’t cool down in the second half and finished the game with 21 points on 10-for-10 shooting.
Nkamhoua’s season ended at Colonial Life Arena a season ago and being able to come back and have a good game was important for the veteran big man.
“Mentally it was good box to check,” Nkamhoua said.
Nkamhoua was also coming off a game where he had just one rebound, a point of emphasis in the days since.
“As a staff we’re really proud of Olivier,” head coach Rick Barnes said. “After the game when we were breaking down film, the one thing that we went at pretty good was the fact that he only had one rebound in 39 minutes over two games.”
Tennessee’s stout defense also shut down South Carolina forward G.G. Jackson. The 5-star recruit and the No. 1 power forward in the 2022 class went 0-for-8 on the game and had four turnovers.
“He was a key part of scout and all that,” freshman big Tobe Awaka said. “We knew that he was a key part of their team in terms of rebounding the ball and scoring, so we knew that putting emphasis on him on the defensive end was really important.”
The Vols finished the first half shooting at 61% clip from the field and 63% from the three compared to 26% and 8% respectively for the Gamecocks. South Carolina finished the half on a three and a half minute scoring drought.
Tennessee came out even hotter in the second half, going on a 12-0 run early in the half to build up a comfortable 41-point lead heading down the stretch.
Josiah-Jordan James had a solid 12-point showing in his second game back from injury. Jonas Aidoo and Santiago Vescovi joined James in double digits with 13 points and 12 points respectively.
Zeigler finished with eight assists after having a 10-assist game on Tuesday. The sophomore point guard is starting to click in terms of distributing the ball.
“We was having fun,” Nkamhoua said. “He’s making plays, he’s moving the ball, he’s putting it where it needs to go.”
The Vols return home next week for a two-game home stand against Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
Despite the hot start in SEC play, the Vols see plenty of room for improvement. While the offense has been hot the past two games, turnovers are still an issue and something that will need to be cleaned up when tougher opponents come to town.
“They deserve where we are right now, but I think they are smart enough to know that we have got to get better,” Barnes said.
