SEC play is always challenging, as the Tennessee basketball team found out the hard way on Saturday versus Arkansas. Tonight, against Texas, they made it look easy. The Vols started sloppily, but at the seven-minute mark in the first half, they took a double-digit lead, and they never looked back. Texas tried to claw back, but the Vols had an answer to everything Texas brought them.
Tennessee now sits at 11-4 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. Things don't get any easier, though, as Tennessee will take on the defending national champions, Florida, on the road Saturday.
But before we look ahead to Saturday's matchup, let's dive right into three key observations from the 85-71 win over Texas.
1. Ja'Kobi Gillespie was unstoppable
Ja'Kobi Gillespie was on fire tonight. It was his third time this season having more than 20 points at halftime. He did a great job running the offense and taking advantage of his crafty ball handling. He finished with a career high 34 points on 12-16 shooting.
After the Arkansas game, there were concerns that he was pressing too much. Tonight, he let the game come to him, and ironically, that led to a dominant performance. Rick Barnes had to love the patience and reliability Gillespie showed.
When Tennessee's point guard plays like this they are very hard to stop.
2. Down low dominance
Tennessee all night was babying Texas in the post. The Vols ran high pick-and-roll ball screens and fed the low post continuously because it worked so well. JP Estrella had 11 points, Jaylen Carey had 10, and Dewayne Brown II had 10.
Tennessee basketball's DNA under Rick Barnes has always been built on toughness, and this was exactly that. The Longhorns got out-muscled all night down low. Credit to Barnes, too, for sticking with what was working. The Vols hardly shot any threes because they didn't need to, as buckets were coming extremely efficiently at the hole through post-ups or pick-and-rolls.
Establishing the low post is a staple of Rick Barnes’ system, and the Vols executed it to a tee today.
3. Free throws finally improved
The one thing everyone has complained about over the last month is the horrid free-throw shooting. The Vols basketball team must have been hard at work in the gym, because the free-throw shooting was a strength tonight.
Tennessee went 21-of-29 from the charity stripe (72%), which is a solid percentage on a high volume of attempts. That’s exactly what the Vols needed to do tonight. Plus, nobody is saying Tennessee has to be perfect. They just have to be capable enough at the line. Rick Barnes has reiterated this, too.
It was refreshing to see Tennessee actually make their free ones.