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Tennessee basketball: No Jordan Bowden, no problem but Vols need him the rest of the way

By Billy Williford

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers defends during the game between the Tusculum Pioneers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on October 31, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 31: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers defends during the game between the Tusculum Pioneers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on October 31, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Jordan Bowden tweaked his knee which caused him to sit out the South Carolina game. Vols still won but they need Bowden healthy the rest of the way.

Not to beat a dead horse, but this edition of Tennessee basketball is one of the best in program history. The Vols are currently riding a 15 game winning streak with only one loss on the season which was back in November.

Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield have been nothing short than exceptional. Williams is on his way to back-to-back SEC Player of the Year honors. He’s average a league-leading 20.4 points per game. Last week we saw a performance for the ages against Vanderbilt. Williams scored 43 points on a perfect 23-for-23 from the free throw line. The last time a Tennessee player scored at least 40 points in a game was Allan Houston in 1990, almost 30 years ago.

Despite a shooting slump in recent games, Schofield has taken his game to another level this season. He’s averaging 17 points per game which ranks fourth in the conference. If it wasn’t for Schofield, Tennessee probably doesn’t beat Gonzaga. Schofield dropped 30 points on 12-for-22 from the floor, including 6-for-10 from deep.

As good as Williams and Schofield are, the surrounding cast are just as outstanding. That includes junior guard Jordan Bowden who was unable to go against South Carolina on Tuesday night.

The Gamecocks were entering the game 5-1 in conference play, and Gamecock faithful sold out Colonial Life Arena, which is never an easy place to play. However, Tennessee ended up winning by 22 points, but don’t let that fool you; the Vols need Bowden the rest of the way.

Since conference play started, Bowden is averaging 16 points per game while shooting 41.5 percent from the three-point line. Keep in mind he is producing these types of numbers off the bench.

One of the knocks on Bowden last season was his lack of consistency scoring the basketball. He had games where he would score 18 points of 5-for-6 from the three-point line like against Mercer. And, then he would have other games where he failed to score or shoot 0-for-5 from the three-point line.

In 35 games last season, Bowden scored in double figures 14 times. So far this season, he already has 11 through 20 games.

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Rick Barnes was asked about Bowden’s injury after Tuesday night’s game and again on Thursday afternoon, which he said he should be ready to go Saturday against Texas A&M. Bowden has been instrumental in providing a scoring spark off the bench, and the Vols will need him to continue that level of play to make a deep run in March.

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