It is undeniable that the Tennessee Volunteers have relied heavily on Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament to push them to their 18-7 overall record and current third-place standing in the SEC.
However, as the now-unranked Vols take on the Oklahoma Sooners, a few other players are going to be set up for their best games of the season, and Tennessee may want to rely on them more than their usual suspects.
J.P. Estrella has been the third-highest scorer for the Volunteers this season, and one glaring weakness in Oklahoma's game will help him have the night of his life on Wednesday.
J.P. Estrella can push Vols to win over Sooners
So far this season, over a quarter of Estrella's attempted field goals have been on put-backs, making him the only player on Tennessee's roster to hit over 20 percent in that category. On those put-back attempts, Estrella has shot over 69 percent from the field.
In other words, second-chance opportunities have been huge for Estrella this year, and have been a huge part of why he averages 9.7 points per game.
On the opposite bench, the Sooners' defense struggles to prevent second-chance opportunities for its opponents, giving up an average of 12.4 per game, which is in the bottom 19th percentile in the national rankings.
Over the last five games, things have only gotten worse for Oklahoma, allowing 15.0 second-chance opportunities, which its opponents have greatly capitalized on.
Opponents of the Sooners have scored 17.6 percent of their points on put-back attempts over that five-game stretch, spelling ruin for OU and playing a major role in the team's 3-9 record against SEC opponents.
Tennessee has to take advantage of OU's shortcomings
Overall, Tennessee has scored 20.5 percent of its points on second-chance opportunities (100th percentile) and averaged 16.6 second-chance points per game (99th). Over their last five games, the Vols are at 22.0 percent and 16.9 points on put-backs.
While Esttrella could and probably should lead this charge, he will be joined by Felix Okpara and Jaylen Carey, who both also have high success rates on second-chance opportunities.
Over the next day, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has to emphasize the importance of following shots for offensive rebounds, because it could quite literally be the winning difference in the Vols' game.
Beyond the game against Oklahoma, ensuring that players like Estrella, Okpara, and Carey have this kind of confidence boost could be exactly what Tennessee needs going forward, especially as March Madness flies into focus.
Tennessee and Oklahoma are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Feb. 18, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.