Everything that Felix Okpara put up went in Tuesday night.
The Tennessee junior forward and former Hamilton Heights standout made all six attempts from the floor and all three free-throw tries in a 15-point performance as the No. 5 Volunteers defeated LSU 65-59 in Baton Rouge. The Vols improved to 23-5 overall and to 10-5 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Tigers fell to 14-14 and 3-12.
This is the fifth consecutive season Tennessee has double-digit wins in conference play, a first for the program since Bruce Pearl’s first five seasons from 2006-10.
“Obviously it felt good,” Okpara said afterward on the Vol Network. “I felt like my teammates put me in the right position, and the coaches drew up the right plays. It’s always hard to win a road game, and this was kind of a slow game, but we did what we had to do to come out with the victory.”
Zakai Zeigler led the Vols with 17 points, and his reverse layup and free throw with 14:59 remaining gave Tennessee its first double-digit lead at 39-28. The Vols grabbed their biggest advantage at 61-46 on a Cade Phillips free throw with 3:24 to play before LSU closed the contest on a 13-4 run.