Felix Okpara had a career-best 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and collected eight rebounds to help No. 20 Tennessee post a 91-66 victory over Rice on Monday night in nonconference play at Knoxville, Tenn.
Nate Ament recorded 19 points, 10 rebounds and three steals for the Volunteers (4-0). Ja’Kobi Gillespie had 17 points and eight assists and Ethan Burg scored 11 points as Tennessee notched its 40th consecutive nonconference home victory.
Nick Anderson had 19 points and three steals and Cam Carroll scored 14 points for Rice (2-3). Jalen Smith added 10 points for the Owls, who never led.
Tennessee big man J.P. Estrella exited with 1:26 remaining in the first half due to a left leg injury. He was injured during a battle for a rebound, went down to the ground and immediately grabbed for his left knee.
Estrella played in just three games last season before undergoing left foot surgery. He had four points in nine minutes against the Owls.
The Volunteers shot 52.3% from the field, including 6 of 19 from 3-point range. Tennessee owned a 47-31 rebounding advantage.
Rice made 33.3% of its shots and hit 8 of 28 from behind the arc. Trae Broadnax missed all 16 of his shots, including eight from distance, but had five points on 5-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line.
The Volunteers led by 13 at the break and soon increased it to 48-31 on a 3-pointer by Burg with 17:01 remaining.
The Owls trailed 61-49 after a 3-pointer by Carroll before Tennessee responded with Ament’s jumper and two buckets from Okpara for an 18-point lead.
After Stephen Giwa’s dunk for Rice, Okpara threw down his own slam and Ament made two free throws to give the Volunteers a 71-51 lead with 7:47 left.
Ament’s layup made it 82-57 with 3:59 remaining. The lead topped out at 26 before Tennessee closed it out.
Gillespie scored 10 first-half points to help the Volunteers lead 39-26 at the break.
Tennessee jumped out fast and took a 21-9 lead on Jaylen Carey’s layup with 10:11 left in the first half.
Rice scored nine of the next 11 points and moved within five on Anderson’s 3-pointer with 6:41 remaining.
The Volunteers answered with a 13-4 spurt and took a 36-22 advantage on Gillespie’s jumper with 1:12 left.
