Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee basketball turned in one of its best offensive performances on the young season and coasted past Rice 91-66 on Monday night in Knoxville.

A pair of transfers performed well and Felix Okpara had a career outing. Here’s three quick takeaways on the win.

Pair Of Transfers Give Tennessee Good Minutes

It’s been a bit of a rocky start to the season for incoming transfers Amaree Abram and Jaylen Carey but both turned in two of their best performances of the young season.

Rick Barnes gave Amaree Abram his first start of the season with Bishop Boswell sidelined due to injury and Abram turning in a strong performance against North Florida last week. Abram earned the starting spot with defense and he brought great defensive intensity against the Owls.

Abram totaled two steals and was active on that end all game. The Louisiana Tech transfer had too many turnovers and took a couple ill advised shots but also did some good things on the offensive end totaling four assists.

Carey was Tennessee’s fifth big man in the game last week against North Florida while playing limited minutes. But he was gave Tennessee highly productive minutes against the Owls. In his first stint in the game, Carey grabbed two contested rebounds— scoring a put back on one— while dishing out an assist.

The Vanderbilt transfer scored nine points on four-of-five shooting from the field while also totaling five rebounds in a season-high seven minutes.

Two Statistical Trends Continue

Entering Monday night’s game, Tennessee’s best statistical trait was its ability to control the offensive glass. Its biggest weakness was its tendency to turn the ball over. Both trends continued against the Owls.

Tennessee again dominated the offensive glass, grabbing 18 offensive boards and turning it into 22 second chance points. Tennessee has now totaled 16-plus offensive rebounds in every game they’ve played this season.

The Vols entered the game rebounding 53.1% of their misses, a mark that ranked first nationally. They rebounded 58% of their misses against Rice.

But Tennessee’s turnover issues also persisted. The Vols entered the game with a 20.9% turnover rate before coughing it up 11 times for a 16.9% turnover rate on Monday. Rice turned those 11 turnovers into 17 points. Through four games, turnovers have consistently been a problem for Tennessee.

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Strong Performance And A Scare At Center

Let’s start with the bad news. By far the most notable part of the game was JP Estrella exiting with a left leg injury late in the first half and not returning. Estrella has been a revelation for Tennessee early this season, averaging 17.3 points and 8.2 rebounds through the first three games of the season.

We’ll see what Rick Barnes has to say about the injury after the game but you can read more about it here.

Tennessee starting center Felix Okpara has started the season quietly but was dominant against the Owls. The senior scored six points before the game’s first media timeout which eclipse his previous season-high in points.

Okpara didn’t slow down, going for a career-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds and two assists. Ja’Kobi Gillespie frequently found Okpara for lobs but the 6-foot-11 senior also scored on a number of put backs and on a few post ups.

Okpara is a known commodity so there were fewer reasons to be concerned with his slow start to the season, but it was still good for him to find a rhythm.

Box Score

Up Next

Tennessee is back in action on Thursday night when they host Rice at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. The SEC Network+ is streaming the game. It’s the Vols’ final buy game before they head to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival.