Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | February 08, 2025
NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Tennessee used a scintillating first-half shooting performance to claim a commanding lead in the opening minutes and never looked back, en route to a thorough 70-52 triumph Saturday afternoon at Oklahoma.
Fourth-ranked Tennessee (20-4, 7-4 SEC) made 15 of its initial 17 field goals in its first-ever game at the Lloyd Noble Center and led by as many as 28 points in the dominant result. Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier led the way with a game-high 21 points in the first conference matchup between the two programs.
The Volunteers hit six of their first seven shots, including hitting five in a row, to take an early 13-9 lead after just 4:34. Following a miss, they made eight consecutive shots, extending the start to 14-of-16 overall and 5-of-5 beyond the arc, to go up by 14, 33-19, with 8:57 left in the frame. Lanier personally scored 13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 ledger in the first 10 minutes alone.
Tennessee went 3:35 without a field goal, committing four turnovers and making one free throw, but then continued its offensive onslaught. It pushed the field goal streak to nine in a row, making it a 15-of-17 tally through 15 minutes. Soon thereafter, the visitors went ahead by 20 points, 41-21, with 3:49 on the first-half timer, behind a 17-of-21 clip from the floor that featured a 6-of-7 long-range count.
Senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., gave Tennessee its largest lead of the half, 22, on a four-point play with 1:56 to go in the frame, stretching the margin to 45-23. Oklahoma (16-7, 3-7 SEC) scored the final two points of the session to make it 45-25 at the break.
The Volunteers missed their final two field goals, both from the field, in the opening 20 minutes to give them an 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) overall figure, including a 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) register from deep. At the other end, they held the Sooners to 11-of-28 (39.9 percent) shooting from the floor, with a 3-of-10 (30.0 percent) mark on 3-pointers.
Tennessee committed five fouls in the first-three-and-a-half minutes of the second stanza to give Oklahoma six free throws, all of which it made, on the way to cutting the deficit to 49-34 with 16:33 left. However, the Volunteers held the home team without a point for the next 3:05—that came during a 6:30 span in which it allowed no made field goals, forcing six misses in a row—to go back ahead by 21.
A 9-0 run, started with a 3-pointer by senior guard Zakai Zeigler, in 4:22 helped Tennessee grab a game-best 28-point advantage, 68-40, with 5:30 to play. Oklahoma countered with the next seven points, part of a 12-2 game-ending run to make it an 18-point final cushion.
Lanier, who shot 9-of-17 from the field, added five rebounds and two assists to his line. Zeigler, who notched a 6-of-8 field-goal clip that included a 3-of-4 mark from deep, logged 17 points, as well as led all players in assists (nine) and steals (four).
Miličić posted eight points, as did junior forward Felix Okpara, who also registered a game-leading and co-season-best four blocked shots.
Just one Sooner finished with double-digit points, as senior forward Jalon Moore notched 12 on a 4-of-12 field-goal clip. Graduate guard Brycen Goodine was Oklahoma’s second-leading scorer with nine points, but Tennessee limited him to 2-of-7 shooting, including a 1-of-4 figure beyond the arc.
Despite missing six of its final 10 shots, including three of its last four after going up by 28, Tennessee still concluded the contest with a dazzling 60.4 percent (29-of-48) mark from the field. It compiled a 42.9 percent (9-of-21) figure on 3-pointers.
On the defensive side of the floor, Tennessee held Oklahoma to its lowest point total since Feb. 28, 2024, and its lowest mark at home since Nov. 7, 2022. The former was also the last time the Sooners made fewer than a third of their shots, with Feb. 17, 2024, the last time they did so at home. In addition, the 18-point margin was the program’s co-fifth-largest home loss in the last 30 seasons (1995-2025).
Oklahoma finished with a 32.1 percent (17-of-53) clip from the field in the setback, but did go a perfect 12-of-12 at the stripe. It also got outscored by 16 in the paint points, as Tennessee accumulated a 36-20 margin around the rim.
The Volunteers play their second consecutive road game Tuesday at 7 p.m. at No. 14 Kentucky, live on ESPN from Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
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
• The Volunteers donned their “Dark Mode” uniforms Saturday, the second time wearing black in program history—both are this season—alongside a Dec. 3, 2024, home win over Syracuse.
• Prior to Saturday, Tennessee had just four all-time outings in the state of Oklahoma, going 2-2 in neutral-site contests in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City (2-1 in Dec. 1969 and 0-1 in Dec. 2005).
• Saturday marked just the second meeting, including the first in SEC play, between the Volunteers and Sooners, alongside a 55-49 Tennessee home win on Dec. 13, 1968.
• Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has now faced Oklahoma 42 times in his career, more than all but one other opponent (Texas A&M; 43).
• Barnes is now 22-20 all-time versus the Sooners, with the 22 victories his fifth-most against any foe, trailing just Texas Tech (33), Texas A&M (32), Baylor (31) and Oklahoma State (23).
• The Volunteers moved to 5-7 under Barnes in morning (local time) tip-offs, with this its first such game since Nov. 22, 2023, against Kansas in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Prior to Saturday, 12 of Tennessee’s last 14 SEC games, including eight of 10 this season, were against AP top-25 foes, including each of the last five, a program first.
• Tennessee now owns 31 20-win seasons in program history, six of which have come in the last eight years under Barnes.
• Barnes upped his career total to 25 20-win campaigns, matching Mark Few, Rick Pitino, Eddie Sutton and Jerry Tarkanian for No. 11 all-time at the Division I level.
• Before Miličić, the last four-point play by a Volunteer also came in the “Dark Mode” unforms, as Zeigler recorded one Dec. 3, 2024, versus Syracuse.
• Tennessee’s 69.2 percent first-half field-goal clip marked its second-best in a frame this year, trailing only the 70.4 percent (19-of-27) tally it put up before the break Nov. 17, 2024, versus Austin Peay.
• The two sides combined for just three free-throw attempts in the first half, with Zeigler splitting a pair at the 6:26 mark and Miličić adding the and-one with 1:56 left in the frame, but Oklahoma took its first shots from the line just five seconds into the second frame.
• After being called for just two fouls in the first half, Tennessee committed seven in the opening 6:32 of the second frame—five came in the first 3:27, during which it drew zero—to put Oklahoma in the bonus with 13:28 left.
• In each of their two games this week—the other was an 85-81 home win Wednesday against No. 15/16 Missouri—the Volunteers blocked eight shots and had none blocked on the offensive end.
• Tennessee has conceded 35 or fewer first-half points in 22 of its 24 contests thus far, including 29 or fewer on 14 occasions and 22 or fewer seven times.
• The Volunteers have held a halftime advantage in 18 of their 24 outings this season, including a margin of seven-plus points 13 times, double digits 11 times, 12-plus 10 times, 14-plus eight times, 20-plus four times and 23-plus thrice.
• The Volunteers have held a lead of 18-plus points in 17 of their 24 contests this season, including a margin of 26 in 11 of them.
• Seventeen of Tennessee’s 20 wins are by 12-plus points, with nine by at least 20, four by at least 35 and two by 40-plus.
• Tennessee last shot over 60.0 percent from the field in a 37-of-58 (63.8 percent) showing Nov. 17, 2024, versus Austin Peay.
• The Volunteers most recently shot 50.0 percent or better in both halves of a game Nov. 22, 2024, against Baylor in Nassau, Bahamas, when they notched a 17-of-33 (51.5 percent) ledger before the break and a 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) mark after it.
• Oklahoma is the second team to make all its free throws against the Volunteers this season, as Louisville went 13-of-13 on its home court Nov. 9, 2024.
• The last time Oklahoma scored 52 or fewer points and the last time it made fewer than one-third of its field-goal attempts was Feb. 28, 2024, when it notched 45 on a 32.6 percent (15-of-46) clip at Iowa State.
• The Sooners last scored 52 or fewer points on their home court Nov. 7, 2022, when they had 51 against Sam Houston State and last did so in league play—while in the Big 12—on Jan. 22, 2022, against Baylor.
• Oklahoma’s 32.1 percent mark from the field versus Tennessee was its worst since Feb. 17, 2028, when it had a 32.0 percent (16-of-50) ledger versus Kansas, with the latter also the last it connected on fewer than one-third of its attempts at home.
• Only five prior times in the last 30 seasons (1995-2025) has Oklahoma lost by 18-plus points on its home court: 78-55 (minus-23) on Feb. 11, 2023, versus Kansas; 77-47 (minus-30) on Jan. 28, 2019, against Baylor; 84-52 (minus-32) on Jan. 28, 2017, versus Florida; 76-50 (minus-26) on Dec. 30, 2016, against Baylor; and 69-51 (minus-18) on Jan. 8, 2011, versus Texas A&M.
• Zeigler’s nine assists increased his career mark to 645, moving him from No. 10 to co-seventh in SEC history, as he surpassed LSU’s Ethan Martin (638 from 1977-81) and Texas A&M’s Alex Caruso (644 from 2012-16), moving into a tie with LSU’s Kenny Higgs (645 from 1974-78).
• Zeigler also increased his season assist total to 173, moving him from co-ninth to co-seventh, alongside Bill Hann (1968-69) on the program’s single-season leaderboard
• In addition to the 12 double-doubles he owns as a Volunteer, Zeigler has now finished one point, one rebound or one assist shy of another one seven occasions.
• Zeigler has now carded four-plus steals 21 times at Tennessee, including on four occasions in the 2024-25 campaign.
• Lanier registered the 24th 20-point performance of his career, including the ninth of his lone season as a Volunteer.
• Okpara finished with four-plus blocks for the 11th time as a collegian, including the third in his first year at Tennessee.
