Tennessee turns in complete effort in SEC opener

No. 5 Tennessee mauled previously undefeated and No. 19 Ole Miss 90-64 today in what might have just been the Vols’ most complete game of the season.

Back in October Tennessee was the preseason pick to win the SEC. Today the Vols looked the part of a conference heavyweight.

Tennessee just dismantled Ole Miss in workmanlike fashion this afternoon, starting pretty much from the opening moments of the game.

There weren’t any extended, flashy offensive runs that buried the Rebels. It was just a steady grind from the Vols on both ends of the court that saw them get a lead early and simply build on it all game long.

The 26 points was the second largest margin of victory for any team over a ranked opponent this season (Colorado 90-63 over Miami).

Tennessee shot nearly 50% from the floor (48%) for the game. The Vols made 11 threes while holding Ole Miss to just six makes from long range in the game.

Ole Miss’ leading scorer, Matthew Murrell, came into today averaging 17.0 ppg and making 48% from the floor. He got to 11 points today, but was harassed into a 3-of-10 shooting today and virtually never had a clean look at the basket in the half court.

Prior to today’s blowout Ole Miss hadn’t allowed any opponent this season to score even 80, let alone 90. Conversely, the 64 points the Rebels scored today was a season low.

“When we came back after Christmas, that’s been our biggest thing we’ve talked about, we had not put together complete games. And I do think we played a complete game against Norfolk State. I thought it was, and what I mean by that, it’s not just the effort defensively, but trying to get — we gotta continue to get better — but trying to get guys to be confident and take their shots.

“And tonight, the biggest thing was communication. I thought our guys really communicated extremely well.”

Tennessee had four players in double figures, but the Vols got a couple of monster performances from Jonas Aidoo and Zakai Zeigler, who both turned in double-doubles.

Aidoo, playing against Ole Miss’ super-sized front line, had 24 points and 10 rebounds. Zeigler went for 17 points and 10 assists.

It was the sixth points/assists double-double of Zeigler’s career, a new school record, breaking a tie between he and Rodney Woods with five each.

Santiago Vescovi added 11 points (with three made threes) and Jahmai Mashack had 10 points in a game where he was just a terror defensively.

Aidoo has had his moments offensively this season, most notably with a career high 29 points against Georgia Southern last month. Considering the competition though, this was Aidoo’s best game in a Tennessee uniform.

His development as a true low-post scoring threat has arguably been the best thing that has happened to this Tennessee team through the first 14 games of this season. He took a career high 19 shots tonight, clear evidence that he’s on a different level when it comes to confidence and assertiveness on that end of the floor.

Aidoo’s teammates and coaches have long viewed him as a potential star. His own feelings on the matter just now seem to be catching up to that opinion.

“Knowing Jonas for as long as I’ve known him I knew he was going to be this good. It’s not a surprise to me,” Mashack said of his classmate. “Jonas has such a soft touch. He can use both hands. He can drive, he can back you down and he’s a great offensive rebounder.

“When I’m feeding Jonas the ball I’m just going to cut to the basket and get out of the way and he’s going to find a way to score. He’s been effective for us the last couple of games and he’s going to continue to effective for us.”

Aidoo’s production is a new wrinkle for this team. Zeigler’s performance today was not new, but it was a welcome sight for the Vols.

The box score was great, but it doesn’t capture the way he controlled the pace of the game on both ends of the floor while playing at team high 37 minutes.

He and Aidoo carved Ole Miss up repeatedly on the pick-and-roll. Defensively, he only ended up with one steal but he was the ‘tip-of-the-spear’ for a Tennessee defense that held Ole Miss to 14 points below their season scoring average.

Any concerns about his knee are long gone and as a point guard who knows how to run his team, Zeigler simply looks better than he ever has at any point in his career. With the weapons that Tennessee has on the perimeter, and Aidoo’s blossoming game, Zeigler has a lot of options, and he’s showing that he knows how to make the most of them.

“I think Zakai really is getting so much better in ball screens. He’s getting better at getting rid of it, feeling the game, and making good passes,” Barnes said of his point guard.

“And our post guys are getting off of it better. But it’s just the fact that there’s no doubt that I do think that people respect the fact that we’ve got some guys that can shoot the ball.”

The Vols shot the ball well and they defended at a high level, two obviously key elements if you’re going to put together a complete game. The most impressive stat of the day was the rebounding margin.

Tennessee simply bludgeoned the Rebels on the glass to the tune of a 47-24 advantage. It was even more pronounced on the offensive end where Tennessee collected 19 offensive boards to just four for Ole Miss.

Tennessee turned that into a 22-5 edge in second chance points, just an enormous difference in the game. Aidoo was big with his 10 boards (five on the offensive end), but Josiah-Jordan James added eight of his own (four on the offensive end).

It was a tour de force performance on the glass. On the season the Vols enjoy a +6.0 rebounding margin in games, but this was just a dominant effort today.

“It’s (offensive rebounding) important as a coaching staff and we preach it to our guys, take your shots and let’s go rebound it. Let’s go get it,” Barnes said. “Some nights you can’t get inside to get it. Some of the long rebounds you can run down, and we ran down a few of them.

“I truly believe if you play defense, rebound the ball on both ends, whether you’re making shots or not, and take care of the ball, don’t give up turnovers for easy baskets. You’re gonna have a chance every night to be in the game.”

It’s just one game, and the conference season is a LONG grind, but Tennessee couldn’t have asked for a better start. It was simply a complete effort from the Vols on opening night.

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