Felix Okpara the rebounder.
Felix Okpara the shot-blocker.
Felix Okpara the 3-point specialist?
The Tennessee 6-foot-11, 235-pound junior forward and former Hamilton Heights standout made his first 3-point attempt of the season Tuesday night, providing an instant shift in momentum as the No. 6 Volunteers thumped No. 14 Mississippi State 68-56 inside the Food City Center. The Vols improved to 17-2 overall and to 4-2 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Bulldogs dropped to 15-4 and 3-3.
“Felix would like to shoot more threes, and if it ends up in his hands late in the clock, I hope he does,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said afterward on the Vol Network. “He’s really had four games in a row now where he’s rounded into what we want him to do. He impacts so much around the rim, but he’s also gotten so much better at coming out on the perimeter.
“We’re asking him to do a lot of things he’s never done before, and we love how he is progressing.”
The Vols raced to a comfortable 34-16 halftime advantage, but Claudell Harris Jr. opened the second half by making two 3-pointers to key a 15-4 run that got the Bulldogs within 38-31. Harris had another 3-point attempt rattle out that could have made it 38-34, but Okpara then saw the clock winding down on Tennessee’s ensuing possession and connected from long range as time expired.
Okpara’s 3-pointer ignited a 12-2 run that enabled Tennessee to regain control at 50-33, with Cade Phillips providing the Vols their largest lead of the night at 59-39 with 6:46 remaining.
“To me, that was the back-breaker,” Bulldogs coach Chris Jans said in a news conference. “Not that we were going to come back and win, but if Okpara misses and we get it down to five or four, it can change.”
Chaz Lanier led Tennessee with 23 points, connecting on 5-of-12 attempts from 3-point range, while Jordan Gainey and Jahmai Mashack each added 10. Okpara and Zakai Zeigler chipped in nine points apiece, with Okpara also racking up 12 rebounds during his season-high 31 minutes and with Zeigler dishing out seven assists.
Tennessee and Mississippi State, which was led by Josh Hubbard’s 14 points, met for the 137th time and for a first occasion with both teams ranked.
“We got it going early in the first half shooting the ball, but in the second half we came out and turned the ball over,” Barnes said. “We had a great first half, and it was really created by the defense. When we stay locked in, we’re a pretty good defensive team. “
Lanier connected on two 3-pointers within the game’s first three minutes to help stake the Vols to an 8-0 lead, and they grabbed their first double-digit advantage at 15-4 on an Igor Milicic 3-pointer at the 11:41 mark of the half. Consecutive 3-pointers by Lanier extended Tennessee’s lead to 25-11 and, after the Bulldogs pulled within 25-16, the Vols closed the half on a 9-0 surge.
While Lanier was racking up 14 points in the first 20 minutes, the Bulldogs were shooting just 22.2% from the floor and committing eight turnovers.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.