Ad Disclosure
Tennessee would have had Mark Jones breaking out his classic, “hotter than fish grease” line in the first half against Oklahoma on Saturday. The fourth-ranked Volunteers (20-4, 7-4 SEC) dominated the Sooners (16-7, 3-7) for a 70-52 road victory after opening the game scorching hot from 3-point range.
The Vols made 7 of their 12 triples in the first 20 minutes of the game. They shot 69% from the field. Five Tennessee players hit 3s. Chaz Lanier came out on fire, knocking down 3 of his 4 looks to score 13 first-half points. Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milicic Jr. each added 8.
When the 2 sides went to the locker room at intermission, Tennessee held a 45-25 lead. The second half was largely academic. Oklahoma got the lead down to 15 at one point early on, but Tennessee bumped it back to 20 in a manner of minutes and pushed it to as large as 28.
A 12-2 run to end the game gave the Sooners a more respectable final margin — helpful from a NET perspective as losses pile up for the Sooners — but they were never a threat to the Vols.
With 12:06 to play in the first half, Tennessee had a 5-point lead. Then the 3s started raining down. Over the final 12 minutes of the opening half, Tennessee hit 6 from deep. And that hot stretch coincided with a cold spell at the other end for the Sooners. OU closed out the half with 11 misses on 16 shot attempts.
For the game, Tennessee shot 60% from the floor and 43% from 3. The Vols cooled from deep in the second half, but still ended the game with 9 makes on 21 attempts. OU shot just 32% from the floor.
Lanier finished with 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Zeigler closed with another impressive stat line — 17 points and 9 assists on 6-of-8 shooting and 3-of-4 from deep.
Jalon Moore was the only Sooner to reach double-figures scoring. He had 12 points on 12 shots. While the red-hot shooting from Tennessee will draw the attention, Tennessee’s defense once again did its usual damage. The Vols held OU to a season-low 52 points — a trend for teams that have to contend with this UT defense.
Tennessee will gear up now to face Kentucky in Lexington on Tuesday. The Vols will look to avenge a 78-73 loss to the Wildcats at home on Jan. 28.
Oklahoma will face a third consecutive ranked opponent when it travels to Mizzou on Wednesday.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
