Tennessee cruised past Montana on Wednesday, using a strong second half to win, 92-57 at Food City Center.

Transfer forward Igor Milicic Jr. was the headliner for the No. 11 Vols (3-0) after recording a double-double with a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds to pave the way for Tennessee’s rout.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Guard Chaz Lanier, the Vols’ leading scorer through the first two games, along with guard Cam Carr and forward Felix Okpara scored 13 points each, most of which came in the second half.

Tennessee shot better than 60.8% from the field and limited the Grizzlies (2-2) to just 34% shooting on the defensive end.

Vols’ head coach Rick Barnes recapped the performance following the game. Here is everything he said.

“It’s a big part of what we talked about in our program. Defensively, I think tonight we got about 45% of our misses, which is terrific, obviously. But, it’s a major emphasis in our program, and certainly people know that about us. It’s a compliment to the players, because it’s not an easy part of our game. It’s something that takes determination and fight to do it and trying to keep the other team from getting to the glass. Concentration has a lot to do with it and winning those 1-on-1 battles. It’s important. You can’t be a great defensive team if you can’t finish it with a rebound. You don’t want to be a one-and-done offensive team, either.”

“You look at (the stats), everybody’s going to say a double-double. I thought the most impressive stat on there was he had no turnovers.”

“I really have a lot of respect for Montana, really well-coached team. I thought they really exploited our defense early. We started scoring the ball (and) I felt like we weren’t on the edge as much on the defensive end. But I give them a lot of credit because they took advantage of our ball-screen coverage different ways. And just really, really extremely well-coached team. I mean, they they were right there. Obviously, second half, we had a terrific second half. But I was really impressed with them.”

“I thought tonight he saw the court. I thought that was a key and difference in what he’s been. He didn’t force anything, really. Maybe one drive. Maybe. But I just thought he slowed down. And he let his vision be a factor tonight, as opposed to just predetermined what he’s going to do before he gets it. And what that means, sometimes when he should shoot it, he’s driving. He should have driven it or he should have shot it. All that. I just thought he slowed down. Kind of rewired his brain a little bit where he played at the pace he needs to play at.”

“We’ve got to get consistent there. That’s the biggest key. We put the ball in there some and we’re losing it. And it’s going to happen because there’s just not a lot of room there when people know you’re trying to do that. And we’ve worked hard with our players trying to give them angles to catch and get quick ups, as opposed to always having spin, put it on the floor, whatever they feel they need to do to gather themselves. They’ve got to do that work early. But we need we need more from JP (Estrella). He’s capable of doing it. We need him to do it. Felix (Okpara), I thought he and (Zakai Zeigler) got back to where the lob was there for us some. And he really got that done. And Igor, as opposed to standing in the corner, made a great back cut for a lob.

“Those kind of plays, we need those. But those four guys up front, we’re counting on them. Two of them haven’t played a lot. I told Cade(Phillips), I was disappointed in him tonight because I thought he had great made great strides against Louisville, but I didn’t think he was really the factor tonight that I thought he would be. And we have high expectations for him. So we need him we need him to do it. But those four guys, we feel if they continue to improve that we’ve got something there.”

“One of (the areas they need to improve is), I just don’t ever like to fouling 3-point shooters, and there’s no reason for any of us to do that as much as we talk about it and stress it. It’s concentration. Tonight, we didn’t do a great job with the post guys getting up with the touch. And they do a terrific job, those hand-offs, getting going downhill. Money (Williams), everybody knows he gets left and we didn’t stop him. Most of that was our post guys didn’t get up, didn’t help our guards. He got going downhill and he finished it.Those details like that is getting up, understanding our coverage, staying in our coverage. And it’s just, it all these kind of details. And that’s where those, I would say all of our post guys, but we said it to one of them at some point in time all night. Each one of them. Taking care of the details to help our guards.”

“We talked about it. And, again, one of the reasons that the guy turned it over so much Saturday was nobody took any pressure off of him. They just kept it up to him. Igor is a player that can do that. I mean, he can handle the ball, which he has shown that. But where he changed his mindset tonight, I thought he made good plays as opposed to thinking every time it’s in my hand, I have to score or make something happen. I just thought he played in flow and made some really good passes. When we saw him, we thought his versatility was the biggest thing he could bring to us.”

“He got in foul trouble in the first half, so he didn’t get to play very much. And that’s what he’s gonna have to learn is that people are going to go at him, try to put fouls on him so he’s going to have to work harder defensively, get himself in position. And it gets back to understanding that you’ve got to do your work early as opposed to make a play, stop. You got to go from play to play to play, and he hasn’t gotten consistently where he does that. But as the season goes on, I mean, think about it everybody’s gonna try to go after him. Why not? Because he’s the guy that can be lethal on the court offensively…He had two push offs tonight where when he starts messing with the ball, doesn’t work well. And he’s had too many of those this year, and he’s going to have to get off the ball and learn to move without it more.

“That will help him a lot, but he’s a very efficient player. He doesn’t really try to force too much. Sometimes, we tell him we want him to be a little bit more aggressive. But his nature is he wants to make the right play, and sometimes it would be to shoot it but other times— he’s so conscientious of wanting to be a great teammate. And those guys have been talking to him about, hey. When you’re open, you got to shoot it, and he can shoot it deep.”

“I think (it was more) him. I mean Saturday, like I said, the way (Louisville) were pressuring him, weren’t making him work because he’s so disruptive in the game. I mean, defensively, I mean he creates and wreaks a lot of havoc with his ball pressure. I told him tonight, (Montana is) a good team, and he’s got to fill guys out early. And some guys he will be able to get into a little bit more than others. He’s gotta keep his job out of foul trouble, but he only knows one way to play, and it’s full throttle. And on offense, sometimes when he makes a mistake, he wants to get it back so quickly. Like I said, Saturday, we couldn’t get our post guys there to relieve some of the pressure of other guys. And tonight, for the most part, more guys did try to help him out. We like him coming off the ball some. I mean, he started the game without the ball and he hit had a couple of threes where we need to use him like that too. He doesn’t always have keep the ball up to be effective.”

“We’re always, with the culture of our program, he’s a guy that we think will continue with what we want done. We think he’s gonna be terrific. He’s gotta learn to take care of the ball. He had what, three-plus turnovers in six minutes where that will slow down for him, hope at some point in time and sooner than later. But defensively, he’s very competitive. He’s extremely strong, and he’s a guy that we think can really guard. And we have confidence in him doing that. He just has to settle down on the offensive end.”

“All of our guys, I thought, have improved. Everybody wants to talk about the transfer portal. We talked about Cade (Phillips) and Cam (Carr) and JP (Estrella) getting better. Obviously JP fought a lot of injuries and hasn’t put in nearly as much time as those other two guys. Like I said, Cade really was the guy that we thought he would be the way he played at Louisville, but today, not so much. We wanna see him keep taking the next step. But with Cam, really, the last two weeks, I think he’s starting to figure out exactly what he’s gotta do to play. And it has nothing to do with the offensive end. It’s being effective defensively, but they’ve worked. We felt this summer that the real improvement had to come from those three guys.”

“I can tell you this, if he learns how to take care of the ball, he will get minutes there because he’s tough, he’s competitive and he wants to do the right thing, but he’s just gotta slow down. Kind of like Igor, Cam, Cade. They’ve all gone through it. (Zeigler) at times. It’s a matter of playing at your pace, but every guy. I thought (Jahmai Mashack) tonight, went in, threw up a shot that I’m not sure anybody can make. I thought Jordan (Gainey) went in there one time, no chance to make a shot the way. But we want to drive it hard, but you’ve got to be able to finish it and make the right play out of it. But he’s younger and we’re excited about (Boswell). We are. His teammates love him because he’s competitive, plays hard every day, he wants to be good. And for that reason and that reason alone, he will be.”

“We’re on his timeline. Wherever he feels, you know, is strictly up to him. It’s been important to him that he’s been able to stay around his teammates. They love him. He loves them, but it’s all on his timeline.”