Knoxville, TN – In its first game at Food City Center in 26 days, the Tennessee men’s basketball team turned in a dominant performance Tuesday night and took down No. 11 Louisville, 83-62, in a top-25 showdown.
No. 23/20 Tennessee (8-3) controlled the second half, outscoring the Cardinals by 14 in the session, to defeat an AP top-11 foe for the second time this season. Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie paced the victors, who trailed for just 40 seconds, with a game-high 23 points, including 20 in the second half.
The Volunteers started 8-of-12 from the floor and used a 14-2 run over 3:56, including scoring eight straight points on four consecutive made field goals in the final 56 seconds of that span, to build a 10-point edge, 19-9, after just 7:21 of action.
Louisville (9-2) cut the margin to five, 29-24, with 4:09 to play in the session, but then went scoreless for 2:40, helping Tennessee take a seven-point advantage, 34-27, into the intermission. The Cardinals got all but four of their points from sophomore guard Adrian Wooley (12) and senior guard Ryan Conwell (11). The Volunteers posted a 22-0 margin in first-half bench points, led by 10 from junior forward Jaylen Carey, and committed just four turnovers, three of which were offensive fouls.
Tennessee opened the second frame with a 19-11 burst, including hitting back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers for a 9-2 spurt just 54 seconds, to create a 15-point lead, 53-38, with 14:47 remaining. The Volunteers went 4-of-4 from deep during that surge, with Gillespie accounting for 10 of the first 13 points and hitting the initial two 3-pointers.
The home team upped the count to 22-12 to go in front by 17, 56-39, with 13:03 on the timer, but did not stop there.
The Volunteers’ cushion progressively ballooned from there, reaching 19 with 8:23 remaining and then 21 just 72 seconds later. They stretched it to 22 with 5:17 to go and to 24 only 46 seconds after that as the onslaught continued. The margin reached a game-best 25, 81-56, with 2:58 to go and ultimately ended at 21.
It marked the Cardinals’ first loss by 20-plus since an 86-63 home setback versus Ole Miss on December 3rd, 2024. Their only other 20-point defeat the last two seasons also came to Tennessee, as the Volunteers recorded a 77-55 road triumph on November 9th, 2024.
The 62 points also tied for Louisville’s fewest since March 15th, 2025, versus Duke in the ACC Tournament title game in Charlotte, NC. Its only other outing with 62 or fewer points over the last two campaigns was when it had 55 in the loss to the Volunteers.
Gillespie’s fifth 20-point showing of the season included a perfect 10-of-10 ledger from the free-throw line, all in the second half. He became the first Volunteer to make double-digit free throws without a miss since February 24th, 2021, plus shot 3-of-7 from long range and led all players with five assists.
Freshman forward Nate Ament finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in the victory. Carey, meanwhile, compiled his sixth collegiate double-double, including his second as a Volunteer, with 12 points and a game-leading 10 rebounds. He set a career high with 10 free-throw attempts.
Conwell registered 22 points to lead the Cardinals, but Tennessee held him to a 7-of-19 ledger from the field and a 4-of-13 clip on 3-pointers. Wooley had a career-best 19 points despite the Volunteers limiting him to a 2-of-8 tally beyond the arc.
The victors, who forced three Louisville shot-clock violations, also held senior guard Isaac McKneeley, the Cardinals’ third-leading scorer, to five points on 2-of-10 shooting, with just 1-of-7 figure on 3-point attempts.
Tennessee finished the night 29-of-53 (54.7 percent) from the floor and 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from beyond the arc, with the latter mark featuring a 6-of-10 second-half ledger. At the other end, it held the Cardinals, who scored 80-plus points in nine of their first 10 games this season with 96-plus in six, to a 22-of-58 (37.9 percent) count overall and a 7-of-34 (20.6 percent) mark from deep. Louisville entered the game second nationally, per KenPom, in adjusted offensive efficiency.
In addition, the Volunteers recorded a 21-10 margin in points off turnovers, a commanding 34-3 edge in bench points and a 16-4 cushion in fast-break points.
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Next Up For UT Vols Basketball
The Tennessee men’s basketball team continues its three-game Food City Center homestand Sunday at 3:00pm when it faces Gardner-Webb, live on SEC Network+.
