When Ja'Kobi Gillespie is playing at his best, he is no doubt one of the best players in the nation. He just needs to build that consistency night in and night out. After a mediocre game versus Arkansas that featured defensive lapses and poor shooting, Gillespie responded with a career game versus Texas.
The star point guard had 34 points and five assists on a stellar 12-18 from the field. Gillespie was also a menace on the defensive end with three steals.
After the Arkansas loss, Rick Barnes reiterated the importance of playing defense and sticking to the game plan. Barnes said, "We didn’t do the details, the things that you have to do to win games. We didn’t have ball pressure, we didn’t follow our scouting report, all those type things. We didn’t do any of it."
Then, Rick Barnes, after the Texas game, said this about Gillespie, "I thought today his defense is what got him really going. 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.”
Defense is what gets Ja'Kobi Gillespie going
Rick Barnes is exactly right. When Tennessee is at its best, it's when the defense eliminates easy shots, and the Vols turn it into transition offense.
Take a look at this defensive play from Gillespie:
A high basketball IQ play by Ja’Kobi Gillespie. Boswell goes over the screen, which allows Swain (a great finisher at the rim) to get a step on him. Gillespie reads this and digs, which leads to a steal and 2 points on the other end #GBO🍊 pic.twitter.com/H1pZwMqN6y
— Conner Linsner (@conner__l) January 7, 2026
This was a high-IQ play that was clearly in the scouting report. Swain is a great athlete and scorer at the rim, and Gillespie diagnoses that. He digs, leaving an average-at-best shooter in Pope alone, leading to a steal and a layup on the other end.
Now check this out:
Gillespie gets beat off the dribble, but recovers in time to contest the floater. He then grabs the defensive rebound and gets another transition bucket #GBO🍊 pic.twitter.com/Zi3G19O38f
— Conner Linsner (@conner__l) January 7, 2026
This was a fantastic high-effort play by the senior guard. He got beat, recovered, and made a hustle play down the floor to extend the Vols' lead.
Here is one more great defensive play by Gillespie:
Gillespie bates a pass to Duru. In the matter of a second, he covers 15 feet making an acrobatic play that leads to another score #GBO🍊 pic.twitter.com/ksbhnl0r3r
— Conner Linsner (@conner__l) January 7, 2026
He baited out the pass and made a hustle play that led to another bucket. This is the type of stuff Rick Barnes wants to see moving forward.
If Tennessee keeps getting this two-way version of Gillespie the sky is the limit on how far they can go.