Miličić Jr. Shines in #11/9 Vols’ 92-57 Victory over Montana
Courtesy / UT Athletics

Miličić Jr. Shines in #11/9 Vols’ 92-57 Victory over Montana

November 14, 2024

Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | November 13, 2024

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team turned in a superb second-half performance Wednesday night against Montana, en route to a 92-57 decision at Food City Center.

No. 11/9 Tennessee (3-0) trailed for just 13 seconds and led by double digits for the final 19-plus minutes, as head coach Rick Barnes moved past Don DeVoe for sole possession of second place on the program’s all-time wins list (205). Senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., paced the victors with 18 points, adding a game-best 10 rebounds and a co-career-high five assists.

In the opening 4:38 of action, the Volunteers made all six of their field goals, including two from deep, and both their free throws, racing out to a 16-6 lead, capped by seven straight points in 90 seconds. Montana (2-2) responded with a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to one, 19-18, with 11:38 to go in the session, but could not pull even or go ahead, as it then went the next 4:35 without a field goal.

Aided by another 7-0 surge late in the half, Tennessee took a nine-point advantage, 40-31, into the locker room and posted a 9-0 margin in fast-break points in the opening half. Each team had one player well eclipse a dozen first-half points; the Volunteers got 14 from Miličić, who shot 4-of-5 overall, 2-of-3 from deep and 4-of-4 at the line, while Montana sophomore guard Money Williams put up 16 on respective 4-of-6, 3-of-4 and 5-of-5 ledgers.

The Grizzlies scored the first basket of the second half, but Tennessee countered with 13—eight of them by fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier—of the next 15 points, including yet another 7-0 burst, to go ahead by 18, 53-35, with 16:37 to play. The Volunteers stretched their edge over 20, 58-37, for the first time on a 3-pointer by Lanier with 14:05 to go, making it an 18-4 extended push.

Tennessee, behind six consecutive points from sophomore forward J.P. Estrella, extended its margin as high as 28, 73-45, with 8:10 left. The lead, behind a 13-0 spurt in 3:30 that included nine points from sophomore guard Cameron Carr, reached a game-high 38, 92-54, with 18 ticks remaining. The Grizzlies hit a 3-pointer seconds before the buzzer to make the final differential 35 points.

Miličić, who posted his 12th collegiate double-double and first of the season for Tennessee, finished 6-of-10 from the floor and added a pair of steals. Carr scored a career-best 13 points, shooting 3-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the stripe, chipping in two assists.

Lanier, too, scored 13 points, including 11 after the break, finishing 5-of-8 on field goals, including 3-of-5 on from long range. A third Volunteer, junior forward Felix Okpara, also tallied 13 points, notching a 5-of-7 mark from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 clip on free throws, adding two blocks. Senior guard Zakai Zeigler stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block, with only one turnover in nearly 29 minutes, while shooting 3-of-4 from deep.

Williams tallied a game- and career-best 30 points for the Grizzlies, becoming the first non-conference visitor to hit that mark at Food City Center in nearly a decade. He finished 8-of-15 from the floor, 4-of-7 beyond the arc and 10-of-13 at the line, adding a co-game-high three steals and two assists, while the rest of his team shot 10-of-37 (27.0 percent) and no one else eclipsed six points.

The Volunteers dominated down low throughout the contest, amassing a commanding 38-17 rebounding advantage and a 38-22 cushion in paint points. They also had an eye-popping 20-0 margin in fast-break points, along with a 15-4 edge in points off turnovers and a 29-12 tally in bench points.

Tennessee, which totaled 24 assists shot a scorching 60.8 percent (31-of-51) from the field, its best figure since Jan. 3, 2023. The Volunteers also recorded a 42.9 percent (9-of-21) ledger from deep and an 84.0 percent (21-of-25) clip at the line. It marked the fourth time—all under Barnes—in the last 20 seasons Tennessee accumulated a 60/40/80 shooting line. None of the prior three contests included more than four makes both beyond the arc and at the line.

Up next for the Volunteers is a second straight home contest, this one slated for Sunday at 3 p.m. against Austin Peay, live on SEC Network+ from Food City Center.

To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS POSTGAME NOTES
• Wednesday marked the first all-time meeting between the Volunteers and Grizzlies.
• Tennessee has now played four games (4-0) in program history against the current Big Sky membership—the last was on Nov. 24, 1984—in addition to playing and beating a then-member, Cal State Northridge, on Nov. 17, 1998.
• After never faced a Big Sky member in the first 37 years of his career, Barnes has now coached against a school from every active Division I conference.
• Barnes moved to 205-101 in his Tennessee tenure, surpassing Don Devoe (204-137 from 1978-89) for sole possession of second place on the program’s all-time leaderboard.
• Fifth-year guard Darlinstone Dubar (personal matter) missed his third consecutive contest to begin the season.
• Redshirt junior guard Grant Hurst made his season debut Wednesday, playing the final 64 seconds of the victory.
• Tennessee extended its non-conference home winning streak to 30 consecutive games, a span that dates to the 2020-21 season opener versus Colorado on Dec. 8, 2020.
• The Volunteers now have 15 wins by 30-plus points over the last three seasons (2022-25), including 11 by at least 35.
• The last time Tennessee shot over 60.0 percent in a game was Jan. 3, 2023, at Mississippi State, when it went 36-of-52 (69.2 percent).
• Only three other times in the last 20 seasons (2005-25) has Tennessee shot at least 60.0 percent from the floor, 40.0 percent from deep and 80.0 percent from the line: Jan. 3, 2023, at Mississippi State (69.2/57.1/100); Feb. 2, 2091, at Texas A&M (64.5/45.0/100); and Dec. 29, 2019, versus Tennessee Tech (63.8/50.0/81.8).
• This is the first time in the last 20 seasons Tennessee has posted a 60/40/80 shooting line with at least five makes in each category and just the second time with even five made free throws, joining the aforementioned game versus Tennessee Tech.
• After giving up a basket to begin the game, Montana hit a 3-pointer after 42 seconds of action, giving Tennessee its first deficit, 3-2, of the young season, but the Volunteers regained the advantage 13 seconds later, never trailed the rest of the way and led for 39:21.
• From the 3:35 mark of the first half to the 14:05 mark of the second half, Tennessee outscored Montana by 19 points, 27-8, to push its lead from two to 21 in nine-and-a-half minutes of action.
• In the second half alone, Tennessee shot 19-of-30 (63.3 percent) from the floor, including 19-of-29 (65.5 percent) over the first 19 minutes of the frame.
• Zeigler’s seven assists pushed his career total to 495, moving him past Tyrone Beaman (1980-84) and into the top five on the Volunteers’ all-time leaderboard.
• Zeigler has now registered five-plus assists in 48 of his 104 collegiate appearances, with six-plus in 38 of them and seven-plus in 29.
• Miličić’s prior five-assist outing came during his tenure at Charlotte, when he hit that mark on Feb. 6, 2024, at South Florida.
• Carr far eclipsed his prior career-best point total of eight, set on Feb. 17, 2024, at Vanderbilt, while his 15:32 of action surpassed his previous best of 13:20 in the same game and his three made field goals tied his top tally also set versus the Commodores.
• In addition, Carr’s six made free throws and seven free-throw attempts also vastly surpassed his previous high marks, set on March 21, 2024, when he went 2-of-2 against Saint Peter’s in Charlotte, N.C., in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64.
• Estrella, who went 3-of-3 from the floor and 2-of-2 at the line, tied his career-best ledger in made field goals, set on Dec. 5, 2023, when he went an equal 3-of-3 against George Mason.
• Williams, who notched 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first eight minutes alone, became first player to score 30-plus on the road at Tennessee since Auburn’s Samir Doughty (32) on March 7, 2020, and the first non-SEC competitor to do so since Mercer’s Ike Nwamu (30) on Dec. 22, 2014.
• In total, Williams is now just the 11th player in Barnes’ 10-year tenure to score 30-plus points against the Volunteers at any location, including the 10th in regulation, the eighth in the regular season, the fifth from outside the SEC and the third on the road.

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