Olivier Nkamhoua scored 15 points to lead No. 22 Tennessee past Texas A&M 90-80 on Tuesday night inside of Thompson-Boling Arena.
The junior forward did so on 6-of-10 shooting from the field while making one of his two three-point attempts. Nkamhoua also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive glass.
It was Nkamhoua’s most productive performance on both ends of the floor in quite some time. Possibly of his career.
What led to Nkamhoua’s first double-digit scoring game in nearly a month? A conversation with assistant coach Michael Schwartz.
“I had a conversation with Coach Schwartz before we started and he told me that you have to start building your identity and focusing on those certain things,” Nkamhoua said following the win. “Our offense has to understand that you want to shoot those open shots when they come to you but we also want you to be one of our physical players rebounding, guarding all around.
“Every game, I try to figure it out, try to get better at it, try to find where my niche is and try to help my team in every way I can. Today, I got some shots and you know, I took my shots.”
What exactly is the identity that Nkamhoua is trying to build? One that is similar to teammate and fellow junior Josiah-Jordan James.
“I want to follow Josiah’s footsteps to be honest,” Nkamhoua said. “I want to be that swiss army knife type of guy where I do a little bit of everything and I bring some physically to the team.”
Nkamhoua’s physicality is desperately needed.
Tennessee’s post players have struggled this season to find consistency, but Tuesday night’s performance from the Finnish big man seemed to be a key building block for not only himself, but for the Vols as well.
“He does not stop talking,” James said of Nkamhoua. “You just have to let him be him. He’s very knowledgeable, he’s very smart. He loves to ramble and rant and once he gets started, he doesn’t stop.
“Olivier is a really talented basketball player. Sometimes he gets in his own way for two years and he’ll admit that. He wasn’t willing to be coached for awhile, but this year, this summer, he’s cracked that and is seeing the fruits of his labor night in and night out. I’m just proud of him because of how mature he has become and how much he’s grown.”
Nkamhoua helped sparked a 90-point outburst for Tennessee against the Aggies. After struggling to score against Texas on Saturday, the Vols shot 51% from the field, 42% from three and was 21-for-27 from the free throw line.
More importantly, Nkamhoua helped lead Tennessee to a win in the rebounding battle. The Vols out-rebounded a physical Aggies team 34-27 and pulled down 16 offensive rebounds.
“He can score the ball. He’s a really good shooter — both inside the arc and outside the arc,” Vols head coach Rick Barnes said. “The more he plays, the better he’s going to get.”
Tennessee is back in action on Saturday afternoon when it travels to South Carolina for a 1 p.m. ET tip.
