Another Top 25 game awaits Oklahoma as No. 4 Tennessee travels to Norman, Okla., for a Southeastern Conference matinee Saturday.
Tennessee (19-4, 6-4 SEC) grinded out an 85-81 home victory over No. 15 Missouri on Wednesday. The Volunteers scored 57 points in the second half to rally from a 34-28 halftime deficit.
Oklahoma (16-6, 3-6) lost at No. 1 Auburn 98-70 on Tuesday. The Sooners are in a five-game stretch against ranked teams before facing five more during their final six games of the regular season.
Jalon Moore leads the Sooners in scoring at 17.9 points per game and Jeremiah Fears adds 15.9.
Against Auburn, it was Dayton Forsythe who led Oklahoma with 13 points. The freshman is a local product from Dale, Okla., and was the No. 1 prospect in the state according to 247Sports. He connected on 11-of-11 free throws against the top-ranked Tigers and has scored in double figures in two straight games.
Oklahoma struggled inside Tuesday. The Sooners were outscored 46-20 in the paint and saw 15 turnovers turn into 22 Auburn points.
“Not much went right,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “I thought we were fighting. We were fighting the first 20 minutes even though it didn’t look good, we were doing some things and it was within reach. But it snowballed on us and they can do that with the physicality and size they have. If you want to beat the best, you have a small margin of error. And we had way too large of a margin for sure.”
With their big second half against Missouri, the Volunteers won their second game in a row. Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milicic Jr. each scored 21 points for Tennessee.
Chaz Lanier leads Tennessee in scoring this season with 17.5 points per game.
Zeigler averages 12.7 points and is on the midseason watch list for the Bob Cousy Award, presented to the top point guard in the nation.
“He handles the ball and makes some really good decisions,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “He didn’t settle for a 3 when he could have. ‘Z’ is at his best when there’s a baseline or middle drive and he gets spotted up. That’s when he shoots it the best.”
Tennessee is deep with 10 players who average double-digit minutes, led by Zeigler at 34.4 per game. Barnes tries to use his depth to create offensive mismatches in the Volunteers’ offensive sets.
In the first half against Missouri, for example, Barnes wanted more cuts. Too often, he said, the Volunteers made one cut and settled for the first shot available. During the second half, when it scored 57 points, Tennessee hunted out mismatches with their screen game and back cuts.
“We get guys in positions where they have to switch,” Barnes said. “We hope to take advantage of those switching situations and create matchups out of that.”
These schools have only met once before on the hardwood, with Tennessee posting a 55-49 win on Dec. 13, 1968.
–Field Level Media
