By Camden Gober
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 21 Tennessee picked up its first SEC win of the season in its conference home opener Tuesday night over Texas, 85-71.
Whenever the Vols and the Longhorns face off on the hardwood, the storyline is usually about Rick Barnes, and rightfully so given the history between the two. On Tuesday night, however, the focus was all about Ja’Kobi Gillespie.
The senior point guard finished the night with a career-high 34 points.
Gillespie shot 12-for-18 from the floor, 5-for-8 from three point range, and went a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line to cap it off. He also added five assists, four rebounds, three steals, and just two turnovers.
Gillespie had his fingerprints all over this game from start to finish, and his stellar performance was ultimately the deciding factor down the stretch.
“I thought he was really locked in starting yesterday,” said Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. “I thought he was really working hard on the defensive end and we know he can get it going like he did. Obviously he was very effective in the middle ball-screen, but it started in practice the day before.”
The Maryland transfer has been phenomenal for Tennessee this season. However, there is growing reason to wonder whether the Vols are becoming too reliant on their superstar. When Gillespie has struggled, so does the rest of the team and the offense as a whole.
It’s a blessing and a curse. The entire Tennessee offense runs through Gillespie, and when he’s not on the floor, there is no one who can truly fill that void.
Gillespie played 38 out of the 40 minutes, underscoring just how heavily Tennessee relied on him. Ethan Burg, who has sparingly played back up point guard for most of the season, did not even play tonight. As a result, when Gillespie is not on the floor for the Vols, there really isn’t a true ball handler on the floor.
Even during the brief two-minute stretch when Gillespie got a breather, the offense visibly stalled without their primary facilitator and most dangerous perimeter threat.
While Gillespie was the star of the show, Tennessee’s front court trio of JP Estrella (11), DeWayne Brown (10), and Jalen Carey (10) all finished in double-figures as well.
Fortunately for the Vols, one solution to a sputtering offense is feeding their plethora of bigs and allowing them to go to work in the paint. Rick Barnes has long favored running sets through his post players, and this roster gives him plenty of options down low.
“We did a good job, 44 points in the lane to their 18,” said Barnes. “I think for the most part our post guys did what we asked them to do compared to what we didn’t do Saturday.”
We have seen Gillespie flash like that at times this season, and Tennessee’s frontcourt has already shown it can do similar damage. What the Vols have not yet put together, however, is a truly efficient night at the free-throw line.
This team has experienced its share of ups and downs, but free-throw shooting has been a recurring issue. Tennessee finally showed progress Tuesday night, going 21-for-29 from the charity stripe for 72 percent.
Does it still need improvement? Absolutely. But compared to some of its previous performances at the line, it’s a result the Vols would gladly take any day of the week.
With the win, Rick Barnes improved to 5-1 against Texas while being the head coach of Tennessee, and his team improved to 11-4 (1-1 in SEC play) on the season. The Vols hit the road again this Saturday afternoon as they travel down to Gainesville to face Florida (10-5, 1-1) at 12:00 EST on ESPN.