The Vols played stifling defense and grabbed 51 rebounds enroute to a 76-52 victory.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the nation for a reason,” said Arkansas coach John Calipari after the Razorbacks’ 76-52 loss in Thompson-Boling Arena. “They totally manhandled us. Their defense did a great job. They were physical. They beat us by 30 [actually 22] rebounds. Hats off to Tennessee.”
Eighteen of those rebounds came from 6’10” forward Igor Miličić Jr., a native of Rovinj, Croatia, who played a season at Virginia and two at Charlotte before transferring to UT. “Igor is spectacular,” said UT coach Rick Barnes after his Arkansas performance. “He has anticipation skills. He’s quick, and he has effort.” His total was the highest for a Vol player since 2014.
Miličić looks a bit like Eddie Haskell and speaks with only the faintest Croatian accent. “Coach is telling me to crash the boards, so I do it,” he explained after his Arkansas performance, which included a three-pointer that snapped a frustrating 0-14 streak. “I know I’m a shooter, so I won’t stop shooting. For a long time I’ve been waiting for this [playing in the SEC]. It’s a physical league. The best league.”
Point guard Zakai Zeigler, one of the most relentless on-ball defenders in the nation, is the heart and soul of the team, as he was last year.
Jahmai Mashack, a senior guard from Fontana, California, has worked hard to become a key defender. “He’s an incredible human being that wants to be coached,” said Barnes. “There’s not one selfish thing about him. If I could bottle the DNA of Zakai, Jahmai, and Igor . . .”
Chaz Lanier, a Nashville native who transferred from North Florida, shot five for nine on his three-pointers against Arkansas, ending up with 29 points total. “He has a really quick release and he makes a lot of his threes. It’s fun to be a point guard with him,” said Zeigler, smiling, “because you get an assist.” He and Zeigler get backcourt help from Jordan Gainey, who transferred from South Carolina Upstate a year ago and has developed into a solid contributor. “I look at him as a starter,” said Barnes after an earlier game.”
Against the Razorbacks, 6’11” Felix Okpara, a transfer from Ohio State, originally from Lagos, Nigeria, got an Alley Oop pass from Zeigler and slammed it home to put the score at 21-12. A few minutes later he slammed another Alley Oop from Miličić to make it 40-23. In the second half, 6’9” sophomore Cade Phillips did the same with alob from Mashack to put the Vols ahead 56-40 before Zeigler lofted another Alley Oop to Okpara for the Vols’ final points of the game. At the end of last season, Phillips resolved to grow as a player. As a result, he said after a previous game, “My game changed everywhere.”
“Me and Fee [Okpara] play off each other,” Phillips had commented after an earlier game.
With just nine healthy scholarship players on the roster, fifth-year Hofstra transfer Darlinstone Dubar will see more playing time, as will freshman guard Bishop Boswell. “We’re excited about Bish,” said Barnes earlier in the season. “We think he’s going to be terrific. His teammates love him, He works hard.”
Said Boswell, “I’m just looking up to Zakai defensively, being a dog.”