KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team defeated Oklahoma in commanding fashion, 89-66, Wednesday night at Food City Center.
Freshman forward Nate Ament led all scorers with a career-high-tying 29 points for Tennessee (19-7, 9-4 SEC) in a contest it never trailed and led for all but 63 seconds. Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, meanwhile, set a program single-game record with a career-high eight steals.
The Volunteers, aided by an 11-of-17 start from the field and separate 6-0 runs—both came in under 85 seconds—to grab a 12-point lead, 26-14, after only 10:46 of action. Oklahoma (13-13, 3-10 SEC) closed within seven on five occasions, but each time the home team answered and the lead sat at 11 with under two minutes left in the frame.
The Sooners, though, finally cut the deficit down to two possessions, 42-36, just 47 seconds before the break. Tennessee senior forward Felix Okpara then closed the first-half scoring with a three-point play to give his team a nine-point advantage, 45-36, at the intermission.
Both teams shot at least 52.0 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the line in the opening 20 minutes. However, the Volunteers—they forced nine turnovers and committed just two—logged an 18-2 edge in points off turnovers to go along with a 12-3 margin in second-chance points.
Tennessee scored the first eight points of the second half, making it an 11-0 surge dating to the final 20 seconds of the first stanza, to go up by 17 points, 53-36, with 16:43 remaining. The Volunteers upped the cushion to a then-game-high 18, 56-38, just 80 seconds later on a deep 3-pointer by Ament to beat the shot clock.
Oklahoma responded with nine consecutive points in 1:52 to slice the deficit in half and make it 56-47 with 13:16 to play. Tennessee countered with five in a row to go back up by 14, but the Sooners logged the next seven in just 92 seconds to get the margin to seven, 61-54, with 9:04 left. They then made it a six-point affair, 63-57, at the 7:52 mark.
After the Volunteers went back ahead by 10, Oklahoma again closed within six with 6:18 to go. However, Tennessee regained full control with an 11-0 surge in 2:30 that included five straight makes and made it a 17-point differential, 79-62, with only 3:43 left.
Tennessee, though, was not done there. The Volunteers ultimately made it a 21-4 game-ending run over the final 6:04 to win by a game-best 23 points, 89-66. They made eight of their final 10 shots from the floor.
Ament, who shot 9-of-17 from the field, registered exactly 29 points for the third time this season, all in the last eight outings. He scored 17 of his points during a second half in which he went 8-of-8 at the stripe. The Manassas, Va., native added six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block, with just one turnover in 33 minutes.
Okpara finished with 18 points, the second-best figure of his career and his top tally in SEC play. He went 7-of-10 from the field to tie his second-highest makes total and also went 4-of-5 at the line to match his top count in makes there. The Lagos, Nigeria, native also posted seven rebounds, a career-high-tying two steals and a co-game-high two blocks.
Gillespie filled the stat sheet with 16 points and eight assists to go along with his eight steals. He also committed just one turnover in 37 minutes of court time.
The eight steals for Gillespie surpassed the prior program record of seven held by six players (seven instances). The only Volunteer to reach even seven this century was Kennedy Chandler, who did so on Nov. 30, 2021, versus Presbyterian.
Additionally, Gillespie’s eight steals tied for the fifth-highest total ever by an SEC player, including matching the second-best mark in conference action.
Freshman forward DeWayne Brown II gave the Volunteers a fourth player with over a dozen points, as he scored 13 to tie a career high and set a new SEC best. He matched his career best in made field goals with a 5-of-6 clip, to go along with his 3-of-4 count at the line.
Redshirt senior guard Nijel Pack paced the Sooners with 20 points, finishing 7-of-9 from the floor, 4-of-5 beyond the arc and 2-of-2 at the stripe. Senior forward Tae Davis scored 12 points, but Tennessee forced him into five turnovers. Sophomore forward Derrion Reid added 10 points and a team-leading six rebounds.
The Volunteers shot 52.4 percent (33-of-63) from the field in the victory. They dished out 22 assists, their highest mark in SEC play this season.
Tennessee concluded the night with a season-best plus-24 margin in points off turnovers, 31-7, as it forced 15 giveaways and had only seven. The victors also notched a 46-18 advantage in paint points and a 13-1 ledger in fast-break points.
Up next for the Volunteers is a trip to Nashville, Tenn., for an in-state showdown against No. 19/18 Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium, live on ESPN at 2 p.m. ET. Listen on 103.1FM WIKQ beginning at 1:30pm.
