Tobe Awaka capitalizes on limited minutes as No. 4 Vols rout Georgia

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee freshman Tobe Awaka has played fewer minutes per game since Josiah-Jordan James returned to the lineup following an absence with lingering knee soreness.

Awaka, though, did not wilt in the sparing minutes, but now takes his limited chances even more seriously.

Playing in just 13 minutes off the bench, Awaka was one of two Vols to score double figures and was part of a terrific defensive effort as the No. 4 Vols throttled Georgia, 70-41 Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

“He is a big 17-year-old kid right now that is growing up in front of us, is what he is,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “He takes it really serious. You watch it after practice. Everything he does, he does it with a purpose. He wants to be good. He is confident. He thinks that every rebound goes up, he should have it. He is willing to go try and go get it.

“It is going to be fun. It is fun coaching a guy like that. A lot like what we talk about with (Zakai Zeigler’s) DNA, just a competitive player. It is in his, too.”

Awaka, who is actually an 18-year old freshman, shined in the second half against the Bulldogs. In nine minutes on the court, Awaka totaled eight points. He took only three shots, often a rare occurrence for a freshman, but made all of them. Additionally, the 6-foot-8 forward went 4-for-4 from the free throw line, finishing with 10 points for the game.

Awaka credited his offensive efficiency to a patient mindset. His main focus each and every night is to play defense first, and everything else will fall in place.

“It’s understanding the position I’m in as a player,” Awaka said. “Going into the game my job is to play defense and rebound. The offense will come, and obviously tonight I was pretty efficient. It’s just not focusing on offense and being patient.”

The offense did come for Awaka on Wednesday, but so did the defense. Though it was not reflected on the box score, Barnes felt Awaka played an important part of Tennessee’s suffocating defense, similar to the way James, Santiago Vescovi, Zakai Zeigler and Tyreke Key affect the game’s flow without it always showing on paper.

“They impact the game because not only do they do what they need to do guarding their man, but they are fix-it guys,” Barnes said. “They are there when something breaks down, they can fix it.”

The Vols forced 20 Georgia turnovers, including 10 in the second half — more than its seven second-half field goals. Georgia went on several three to four-minute scoring droughts, but the main blow was a seven-minute, 45-second scoreless stretch. In that span, the Bulldogs committed eight turnovers, missed a free throw and went 0-for-11 from the field, including 0-for-8 from 3-point range.

Tennessee grabbed 33 defensive rebounds to Georgia’s 11 offensive boards, and totaled 12 steals. Vescovi (eight points) and Zeigler (11 points) were responsible for nine of the takeaways between the two of them.

As dominant as the Vols’ defense was — they held Georgia 30 points under its season average points per game (71.1 ppg.) — Barnes challenged them to be better, as he always does. Awaka and the rest of the Vols know that their consistent success is a result of, and will continue to hinge on, their buy-in on that philosophy.

“Coach Barnes is just trying to hold us to a high championship standard,” Awaka said. “He’ll raise the goal and we’ll exceed it, and then he’ll keep pushing just so we can get better. He hates complacency, and that’s definitely something I respect about him. Him always wanting us to get better and him always challenging us. That’s what makes him a great coach and what’s making us a great basketball team right now.”