Knoxville, TN – The Tennessee men’s basketball team started its conference home slate Tuesday night with a commanding 85-71 defeat of Texas.
Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie dropped a career-high 34 points for No. 21/22 Tennessee (11-4, 1-1 SEC) at Food City Center in a game his team trailed for just 104 early seconds.
After the Volunteers raced out multiple early six-point advantages, Texas (9-6, 0-2 SEC) scored seven straight points in 60 seconds to take its first lead, 12-11, with 14:10 left in the opening half. However, following a split of the next four points, Tennessee went on a 15-3 run in 4:09—it included 10 consecutive points in 2:19—to go up by 11, 28-17, with 8:18 on the timer.
Late in the stanza, the home team scored eight unanswered points in 56 seconds—Gillespie capped the surge with back-to-back 3-pointers—to go up by 16 points, 44-28, with 1:27 to go in the session. Tennessee ultimately took a 45-33 edge into the locker room, with 22 of its points coming from Gillespie, who went 8-of-10 from the floor, 3-of-4 beyond the arc and 3-of-3 at the line.
The Greeneville, Tenn., native’s play helped the Volunteers shoot 63.0 percent (17-of-27) in the opening 20 minutes, while the Longhorns had a 39.3 percent (11-of-28) ledger. Tennessee also doubled up Texas in paint points, 28-14, and near tripled up in fast-break points, 13-5.
The Volunteers scored the first eight points of the second half to go in front by a game-high 23, 56-33, with 17:44 left, making it an extended 20-5 run over 4:28 dating to the first stanza. They did not allow a point for the first 3:22 of the frame.
Aided by a 1-of-9 stretch from Tennessee following its dazzling 20-of-31 start the Longhorns—they made six of seven shots after a 12-of-34 opening—clawed to within 10, 61-51, at the 10:34 mark. The Volunteers, though, responded with a 7-0 burst in just 52 ticks to stretch the advantage back to 17, 68-51, with 9:13 remaining.
Texas never got any closer than 11 the rest of the way, as Tennessee held a double-digit margin for the final 24-plus minutes, despite four starters committing four fouls apiece.
Gillespie, who missed just four shots in the first 38 minutes, went 12-of-18 from the field to set a career best in makes. He shot 5-of-8 from 3-point range and hit all five of his free throws, plus notched five assists, four rebounds and three steals, with only two turnovers.
The 6-foot-1, 188-pounder became just the second SEC player in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) with 34 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, alongside LSU’s Ben Simmons, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, who did so in non-conference action. He also became the fifth Power Six competitor in that span to hit those marks in league play, joining a list that includes Washington’s Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 pick in 2017.
Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella amassed 11 points and a game-high six rebounds. He went 5-of-6 from the line to set career bests in both makes and attempts.
Freshman forward DeWayne Brown II put up 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Junior forward Jaylen Carey also recorded 10 points and four rebounds in the victory.
Graduate guard Tramon Mark paced the Longhorns with 20 points on 7-of-13 field-goal shooting, including hitting one of his three 3-pointers at the buzzer to make the final margin 14 instead of 17. Junior forward Camden Heide logged 16 points, finishing 4-of-9 beyond the arc, while junior guard Simeon Wilcher scored 10 points despite Tennessee limiting him to a 3-of-12 field-goal clip.
The Volunteers put forth a stellar defensive performance against junior guard/forward Dailyn Swain, the Longhorns’ leading scorer on the year. He finished with a season-low five points on 1-of-3 shooting, as Tennessee forced him into a career-high seven turnovers, the most by any opposing player this season.
The victors shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) on the night, including 40.0 percent (6-of-15) from 3-point range. The Longhorns had just a 38.6 percent (22-of-57) register, but it included a 37.9 percent (11-of-29) mark from deep, as Tennessee’s excellent interior defense held them to a 39.3 percent (11-of-28) clip inside the arc.
In addition, the Volunteers concluded head coach Rick Barnes‘ fifth straight win against Texas, where he coached for 17 seasons, with a dominant 44-18 margin in paint points, a 27-13 count in points off turnovers and a 24-11 figure in fast-break points.
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Next Up For UT Men’s Basketball
The Tennessee Vols basketball team is back in action Saturday at noon in Gainesville, FL, where it faces Florida, live on ESPN from the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
