Not only did No. 3 Tennessee finish November with a perfect record, but the Volunteers were barely even challenged during the season’s opening month.
The Volunteers hope to author another smooth performance Tuesday when they host Syracuse as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge in Knoxville, Tenn.
Tennessee (7-0) has won all seven of its games by at least 15 points, including two wins by 22 points, two others by 35 and most recently a 43-point rout of UT Martin on Wednesday. Chaz Lanier led the way with 18 points in that one, while Felix Okpara chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Volunteers dominated on the boards 49-24, including 20 offensive rebounds.
“(Okpara) and Igor (Milicic) and Jahmai (Mashack) both, great job on the glass,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “We knew a game like this, long possessions, a lot of shots thrown up at the end (of the shot clock), game with long rebounds. And when the game got going, I thought our pursuit of the ball was obviously what we want.”
Barnes has been particularly impressed with the cohesiveness of his team despite integrating several freshmen and first-year transfers.
“It’s really a compliment to them because they want to be good,” the veteran coach said. “They like each other, which is a major thing. They’ve all had their ups and downs, but they’ve never wavered on sticking together.”
In the win over UT Martin, the Volunteers set a season low for points allowed (35) while yielding only 12 made field goals. They held the Skyhawks to 6-of-31 3-point shooting in a dominant defensive effort.
“The coaches told us to be locked in 40 minutes and we wanted to execute,” Milicic said. “We didn’t want to let them down.”
Syracuse (4-2) could use a better defensive effort Tuesday after struggling against its four mid-major opponents and losing to both of its major-conference opponents. They only led by four with less than two minutes left against Cornell in their most recent contest, but Elijah Moore hit a big 3-pointer to fuel a strong game-ending run by the Orange in an 82-72 win.
Moore, a freshman, finished 5-of-7 from 3-point range, while his teammates were a collective 0-of-6 from beyond the arc.
“We were not shooting the ball well. (Moore) came in, and he hit five 3s. That was big,” Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said.
Autry also noted Moore’s development on the defensive end, which helped earn him a season-high 23 minutes in the win over Cornell.
“The biggest improvement he’s made is on the defensive end, and he’s earned some minutes because of that, not solely because he can make a shot,” Autry said.
Moore finished with a career-high 19 points against the Big Red, while fellow freshman Donnie Freeman scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
“(The freshmen) just brought a lot of energy,” Moore said. “I guess being younger guys, having a lot to prove, we came out fired up.”
The only matchup between Tennessee and Syracuse over the last two decades came last season in the Maui Invitational. Dalton Knecht, now with the Los Angeles Lakers, scored a team-high 17 points to propel the Volunteers to a 73-56 win.
–Field Level Media
