Felix Okpara’s numbers are improving for Tennessee, and just in time to face the Southeastern Conference’s most improved team.
The 6-foot-11, 235-pound junior forward has averaged 27.3 minutes, 8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in the past three games for the Volunteers, which have all been SEC contests. The former three-year standout at Hamilton Heights who began his college career at Ohio State before transferring was a rare bright spot in last Tuesday night’s 73-43 humbling loss at Florida and delivered again during Saturday night’s 74-70 triumph at Texas.
“I feel like I’m just playing hard,” Okpara said Tuesday in a news conference. “I want to win, and I know my teammates need something from me, so I’m just playing hard.”
For the season, Okpara (pronounced ock-PAR-uh) is averaging 22.5 minutes, 7.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. He is shooting 61.0% from the floor, and his putback dunk with 3:09 remaining against the Longhorns helped Tennessee’s 8-0 surge that turned a 60-58 deficit into a 66-60 lead.
“I think he’s starting to get the spacing of where we need him, and he’s starting to do a better job of hiding on the baseline and getting to the dunker’s spot when we need him to,” Vols assistant coach Lucas Campbell said Tuesday. “We need him to finish at the rim, because we need a paint presence. He’s been rebounding really well, especially in the second half of that Texas game.
“He brought a lot of energy that we needed on the glass.”
The Vols (15-1, 2-1 SEC) fell from No. 1 to No. 6 in the latest Associated Press poll after splitting games last week, and they return to the Food City Center on Wednesday night (8 on the SEC Network) to host No. 23 Georgia (14-2, 2-1). Mike White’s Bulldogs thumped the ranked duo of Kentucky and Oklahoma last week, posting a combined 75-28 advantage in free-throw attempts in the double-digit wins.
Georgia’s plus-9.3 rebound margin per game ranks 11th nationally, while Tennessee’s plus-8.8 ranks 15th.
“They’re a very physical team, and we’ve got to match that physicality, which we obviously didn’t do against Florida and for some of that first half against Texas,” Campbell said. “They’re like third in the nation in dunks, and we can’t let them get any uncontested looks at the rim.”
Georgia’s vast improvement has been spearheaded by 6-11, 220-pound freshman Asa Newell of Destin, Florida. The consensus top-20 national signee has been as talented as advertised, leading the Bulldogs with 15.4 points and 6.8 rebounds a game.
Likely getting the first crack at trying to slow Newell will be Okpara, who was born in Lagos, Nigeria, before moving to the United States and settling in Chattanooga in August 2018.
“He’s very aggressive, and he can play in and out,” Okpara said of Newell. “I think it’s going to be a good matchup for me. I usually stay more in the paint to alter shots and block shots, so for me to have to go out there and guard him will make this a good matchup.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for me, and I’m going to try and stay out of foul trouble as best I can.”
Odds and ends
The 162nd meeting between Tennessee and Georgia will be the first in which both teams are ranked. … The Vols hold a 99-62 series advantage and have won four straight. … Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has a 10-2 record against White, which includes an 8-2 mark during White’s tenure at Florida from 2015-22.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.