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How Olivier Nkamhoua's perfect game happened in Tennessee's win at South Carolina

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•01/09/23•

GrantRamey

Olivier Nkamhoua
Tennessee's Olivier Nkamhoua dunks at South Carolina (Tennessee Athletics)

Olivier Nkamhoua tied a Tennessee basketball program record in the 85-42 win at South Carolina on Saturday by going a perfect 10-for-10 from the field, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in his 23 minutes. 

It tied the record for field goals made without a miss in a single game, set by Mike Jackson’s 10-for-10 game against Missouri on December 21, 1974.

Dating back to Tuesday, in Tennessee’s 87-53 win over Mississippi State at Thompson-Boling Arena, Nkamhoua has made 15 straight shots from the floor, after 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting.

Will he ever miss again? 

“If I don’t need to, I won’t,” Nkamhoua said with a laugh Saturday night. 

In a more serious tone, Nkamhoua explained what has been going right for him over the last two games.

“Just been taking shots in rhythm, taking them in my spots,” he said. “Taking shots that I know I am good at and that I know I work on every day.”

On Saturday it was more than just layups and dunks. Nkamhoua’s first make of the night was a deep three from the wing. He added a handful of turnaround or fadeaway jumpers.

“Those high-releases, those quick-ups,” Nkamhoua said, “I like those shots. My teammates know I like those shots. They give me the ball in spots I know I like to shoot them at.”

The rhythm Nkamhoua is in starts on the defensive end, according to head coach Rick Barnes, and extends to rebounding. Nkamhoua is scoring because he’s not focused on scoring, but on other areas of the game.

“I think what’s going (on),” Barnes said, “when he plays well, is really and truly when he gets locked into doing anything other than thinking about scoring. And I would not only say that about Olivier, but I would say that about anybody on the team … His natural instincts will take over for him. 

“And the fact that he’s catching the ball where we want him to catch it. I think knowing your space on the court where you’re most effective and getting to it, he’s certainly been doing that.”

Here’s how Nkamhoua’s perfect game played out at Colonial Life Arena:

18:24, First Half — 3-Point Jumper

Nkamhoua took a pass from Tyreke Key a couple feet behind the 3-point line on the wing.  Given space by his defender, Nkamhoua pulled up and hit the deep three to make it a 6-0 lead, after Julian Phillips opened the scoring with a three from the same area on the floor.

11:34, First Half — Layup

Zakai Zeigler drove to the paint, passed to Nkamhoua on the block and he stretched under the rim, squeezed toward the baseline by a defender, and flung a reverse layup high, appearing to kiss off the glass on the way down, building Tennessee’s lead to 15.

“A little circus shot,” Bert Bertelkamp said on The Vol Network radio broadcast of the game.

“He was all the way under the basket and somehow flipped it up and in,” Bob Kesling replied.

10:42, First Half — Transition Dunk

Zeigler intercepted a pass near midcourt, starting a fast break. He passed to Key, who passed back to Zeigler. Zeigler then found Nkamhoua trailing the play, running downhill in the paint and, after receiving a bounce pass from Zeigler, climbed high for a thundering one-hand dunk to put the Vols up 17.

2:35, First Half — Jumper

Nkamhoua backed his defender down, got to the SEC logo in the paint, spun and faded away on a 10-footer that hit off the spring box, touched the glass and rolled in to make it 36-17.

0:38, First Half — Jumper

Josiah-Jordan James threw an entry pass to Nkamhoua on the block. He spun toward the baseline and faded away with a midrange jumper, hitting nothing but the back of the rim as the shot went down to give Tennessee a 40-17 lead.

19:43, Second Half — Layup

Tennessee started the second half with a Nkamhoua layup, as he moved to 6-for-6 from the field and made it 45-21 Vols.

18:55, Second Half — Jumper

Nkamhoua went back to work in the midrange with another turnaround jumper on the SEC logo just in front of the foul line, making it a 24-point game.

“No way they can stop that,” Bertelkamp said. 

17:10, Second Half — Layup

Phillips got the entry pass to Nkamhoua this time, and he spun baseline on the block and forced his way up for an easy layup. The Tennessee lead stretched to 28. 

“No resistance,” Bertelkamp said on the radio broadcast. 

11:14, Second Half — Transition Dunk

Tennessee was just having fun on at this point. Up 69-30, Zeigler ripped the ball away from his man at the 3-point line, turned to run in transition and, once he got to the other foul line, went behind the back with a pass to Nkamhoua, who was all alone on the break. Once again, Nkamhoua climbed the ladder for another huge one-hand slam. South Carolina called a timeout as Nkamhoua flexed and Tennessee’s bench stormed onto the floor to celebrate.

8:54, Second Half — Jumper

Zeigler bounced the entry pass into Nkamhoua on the block. He took one dribble, spun toward the baseline and faded away with another jumper, his final one on the night, ending the perfect 10-for-10 performance and putting the Vols up 43.

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