Volunteer Country

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Tennessee vs. Ole Miss

The Tennessee Volunteers opened up conference play with a big win over the Ole Miss Rebels.

Caleb Sisk

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Tennessee took on the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday night in the first SEC game of the season. Tennessee took home a monstrous win. Here is everything you need to know about the good, bad, and ugly from the Ole Miss vs. Tennessee game.

The Good

There are plenty of good factors in this game. One of the main factors that was good was the score. Tennessee came into the game as 11.5 favorites and won the game by 26. That’s over double the projected win amount, and that will look good when the new rankings are considered. Jonas Aidoo had another great game tonight, scoring 24 points and ten rebounds. He has looked very impressive the last few games, as the Volunteers are now on a 7-game winning streak. Zakai Zeigler also had a big game for the Volunteers and arguably has been the best player for the Volunteers in terms of being efficient these past few games. Zeigler finished with a double-double in which he had 17 points and ten assists, all while having a steal, a block, and five rebounds. Rebounding is another plus. The Volunteers outrebounded the Rebels 47-24 in a dominant performance inside the paint. One of the big things is the shooting from Jahmai Mashack. Mashack is not known for his 3-point shooting. He usually stays away from those big shots, but against the Rebels, he drilled 2-3 of his 3-point shots, one of which was at the buzzer. The Vols also shut down star guard Matthew Murrell and held him under 10 points, which is a huge positive for Tennessee.

The Bad

One of the very few bad moments in the game was the first half three-point shooting. They were missing some open shots but kept shooting and later improved the percentage.

The Ugly

Tennessee only used eight different players, which is uncharacteristic. They usually use double-digit players and only used the starting five, plus Mashack, Gainey, and Tobe Awaka. Although this may seem like it’s not bad, players need to get minutes to prevent injury and tiredness from your starters and usual reserves in a high-point differential game. This would also provide more experience to the guys who don’t typically get a lot of minutes.

Overall, this was a very impressive game for the Volunteers and a very big letdown for the Rebels. Tennessee will now focus on traveling for their second SEC game, in which they will look to take down the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Tennessee Volunteers PG Zakai Zeigler during the win over Ole Miss. (Photo by Randy Sartin of USA Today Sports)

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Caleb Sisk
CALEB SISK