Tennessee
Inside Igor Milicic Jr’s 18-rebound game for No. 1 Tennessee basketball vs Arkansas
John Calipari’s first observation about this Tennessee basketball team compared to last year’s is the Vols are a year older.
The second was about “the transfer in.”
The Arkansas coach was talking about Igor Milicic Jr., which was readily apparent as Calipari detailed what that unnamed transfer did Saturday. He stretches the floor for Tennessee. He helps the Vols.
He had double-digit rebounds, the key facet of Calipari’s description as Milicic had the best rebounding performance by a player in coach Rick Barnes’ decade at Tennessee.
“Igor was spectacular,” Barnes said.
Milicic grabbed 18 rebounds with six offensive boards and 13 points as No. 1 Tennessee (14-0, 1-0 SEC) pounded Arkansas (11-3, 0-1) on Saturday at Food City Center. It was his career best and the best by a Vol under Barnes.
Igor Milicic explains his 18 rebounds for Tennessee vs Arkansas
Milicic provided a simplified explanation for his rebounding success. His teammates block out and clear the way for him.
“I just need to go jump and get it,” Milicic said. “It’s not that hard, honestly.”
Milicic made it look that easy against Arkansas. The 6-foot-10 forward had nine rebounds before halftime, notched his 10th rebound 33 seconds into the second half, and kept going.
The Charlotte transfer is the fourth Vol in the past 20 years to have at least 18 rebounds in a game.
Milicic preached consistency as a key to being a good rebounder. You have to keep crashing the boards even when you are tired. You have to accept contact.
Barnes credited Milicic for his anticipation skills, quickness and good hands. He added more credit to his effort. He got that overall against Arkansas as Tennessee outrebounded Arkansas 51-29 with 24 offensive rebounds.
Milicic was the tone-setter because he makes it a priority, guard Zakai Zeigler said.
“Even if he is not shooting the ball well, I can count on him to go get 10 rebounds or go get five O-boards,” Zeigler said. “It is just really impressive he does it day in and day out.”
Why rebounding is fun to Igor Milicic Jr.
Tennessee knew Milicic was a good rebounder coming from Charlotte, where he averaged 8.5 rebounds last season.
His offensive rebounding has impressed. The Vols play faster than Charlotte, which means more rebounding opportunities. They also put more of an emphasis on offensive rebounding than Charlotte, which Milicic has enjoyed.
“It just another opportunity to score,” Milicic said. “It is all of us. We get extra opportunities to score and it shows with the shooting that we have here. It is really fun — and of course sometimes you get a putback, right?”
Milicic is averaging 8.9 rebounds after his 18-rebound game. The only other Vol to average that many in a season in the past 20 years is Jarnell Stokes, who had 9.6 per game in 2012-13 and 10.6 in 2013-14.
The Croatian has three straight games with at least 10 rebounds. He has double-digit rebounds in four of the past five games and six of the past eight. He had nine in one of those games.
He rocketed past those impressive games with his best one yet Saturday. That prompted Calipari’s attention and an understatement when he stated Milicic is “pretty good.”
A more fitting description is the compliment that followed: Milicic is doing what Calipari wishes his players would do. He’s an all-out rebounder and he’s one of the best at it.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
The Tennessee Volunteers are in the middle of a bye-week, after last weekend’s loss to Oklahoma.
The playoffs are out of the picture, but there is still plenty of work left to do. The Vols will use this week to work on getting some guys healthy as they prepare for New Mexico State on November 15.
It will be interesting to see if there are any changes for the New Mexico State in terms of players. Will the Vols decide to go a bit younger and work in some younger guys as a way to jumpstart some guys who may battle for playing time and/or a starting position next season.
Josh Heupel met with reporters earlier today to discuss a few things as the team prepares to move forward.
Josh Heupel’s Opening Statement
“How’s everybody doing? Uh, good work today. Um, got another day tomorrow and then some of the coaches will hit the ground recruiting this week. Big focuses again on us during the bye and how we get better. So, open it up,” Heupel said.
Balancing Act
“Yeah, I think wherever your feet are and what’s important at that moment is what you got to be doing. So, uh the development of our current players, our preparation of the opponent that we’re playing, you know, for me, at times the projection of the following year in all departments you’re looking at. So, it’s a combination of all those things. December has changed a little bit on the calendar as well. That gives you a little bit more time potentially in December as well,” Heupel said.
Rotating Young Guys
“Guys that prove that they’re ready to play and play at a really high level, championship level. They earn the right to play and compete and that’s ongoing throughout the course of this season. These guys have worked really hard, disappointed in the results Saturday and a couple other during the course of the year, for sure. But man, it’s constant and consistent growth from everybody,” Heupel explained.
Click HERE to watch and listen to everything Tennessee Football head coach Josh Heupel said during his Wednesday media availability during the bye-week.
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Tennessee
Tennessee provides $5 million emergency food funding during government shutdown affecting SNAP benefits
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee is providing $5 million in emergency funding to food banks as the government shutdown continues to block federal food assistance for low-income families across the state.
The funding comes from TennCare reserve funds and will go to Second Harvest Food Bank, which will distribute the money to food banks statewide based on the number of SNAP recipients in each community.
“It’s an initial response to an immediate need,” Gov. Bill Lee said.
The emergency measure comes as food pantries report overwhelming demand. The Well’s food pantry in Spring Hill served as many families in one hour as they typically see in an entire day.
“It’s hard to see hungry families, senior citizens who have no other alternatives except to wait in the long line at a food pantry,” said Shelly Sassen, CEO of The Well.
SNAP benefits, the federal program that helps low-income families buy groceries, stopped during the shutdown, creating a food emergency across Tennessee.
“They ought to open the government now,” Gov. Lee said.
Even if the Trump administration follows a judge’s order to unlock emergency funds that could provide at least half the normal SNAP amount, Gov. Lee warns the process won’t be immediate.
“But if they release partial funding, the complexity of loading cards with a different formula than before is going to be difficult,” Gov. Lee explained.
The state’s emergency funding represents “the sort of most streamlined way to get dollars to people out, even in rural areas,” Gov. Lee added.
Food pantry volunteers describe the emotional toll of seeing increased need firsthand.
“We’re telling some folks to come back later in the day,” said one volunteer at The Well.
“When you’re here looking people in the eyes and see that they are hungry, that they need some help. That’s what really hits,” another volunteer said.
You are invited to make monetary donations, but Second Harvest Food Bank would also greatly appreciate food donations. Here is a list of suggested items:
- Peanut Butter
- Canned Meat (Chicken or Tuna)
- Canned Vegetables
- Canned Fruit
- Canned Meals (Entree or Soup)
- Pasta
- Pasta Sauce
- Cereal
- Rice
- Beans (Canned or Dry)
You can drop off food donations at the following locations:
- Second Harvest Nashville — 331 Great Circle Road Nashville, TN
- Second Harvest Symrna — 1958 Almaville Road Smyrna, TN
- Second Harvest Camden — 69 Benton Industrial Road Camden, TN
- Any Middle Tennessee Kroger location
You can find your nearest Kroger location by clicking here.
Are you someone being affected by not receiving SNAP benefits? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@Newschannel5.com
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