COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tennessee basketball ended its two-game losing skid, leading wire-to-wire in a 78-59 victory over South Carolina on Tuesday night. Without Nate Ament, the Vols found enough ways to create offense and cruised to a victory in their final road game of the season.
Here’s three quick takeaways on the drama free victory.
Tennessee Pounded The Ball Inside
Without Nate Ament, Tennessee had to turn to other sources for offensive production. Let the Vols’ first three times scoring revel their plan— Jaylen Carey free throws, a Carey layup and a Felix Okpara layup. The Vols pounded the ball inside early-and-often on their way to the victory.
In the first half, the Vols scored 30 of their 40 points in the paint. The front court quarter of Okpara, Carey, JP Estrella and DeWayne Brown combined to score 24 points.
That continued throughout the game as Tennessee tried to get as many shots at the rim as possible including an abundance of alley oops. For the game, the Vols combined to score 56 points in the paint with Okpara and Estrella leading the way.
Estrella totaled a game-high 22 points with seven rebounds and three assists. Okpara kept up his recent strong offensive play, adding 20 points and eight rebounds.
It was an unsurprising strategy with Ament out and the Gamecocks inability to defend the rim this season. Combined with South Carolina scoring just 18 points in the paint, the Vols controlled the game inside.
Tennessee’s Defense Was Shaky To Start The Second Half
A consistent issue for Tennessee when its blown leads this season is that they have started the second half poorly on the defensive end. Rick Barnes was particularly critical of it following the Alabama loss and the issue showed up again at South Carolina.
Kobe Knox hit a three-pointer on the opening possession of the half and three shot opportunities yielded a lone point on the third possession.
South Carolina made six of its first nine field goal attempts of the second half including three of its first five three-point attempts. Credit the Gamecocks for knocking down the looks but they were not particularly well defended with Tennessee having some defensive breakdowns.
The Gamecocks scored 12 points before the first media timeout of the second half and cut Tennessee’s lead to six points. Tennessee limited the issue and got back to its usual intensity on the defensive end, not allowing South Carolina to ever make anything too interesting. But it was not the intensity that you would want to see given the Vols’ second half issues.
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An Uncharacteristic, But Effective Night For Ja’Kobi Gillespie
With Ament out against Alabama, Tennessee asked Ja’Kobi Gillespie to score in abundance. But against South Carolina, Gillespie was more of a facilitator than a score-first guard.
It was odd because that is not Gillespie’s game. The star transfer is a really good scoring guard who plays point guard and has adjusted to learning Rick Barnes’ system this season. Gillespie’s perimeter jumper was not working against the Gamecocks, failing to make a three-pointer for the second time all season.
But Gillespie excelled with getting his teammates involved totaling a career-high 12 assists. So many of the previously mentioned alley-oops came from Gillespie setting them up and delivering accurate passes. He turned it over just once.
The senior point guard finished the game with eight points, 12 assists and two steals. It was an unconventional Gillespie performance but certainly not an ineffective one.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee basketball concludes its regular season Saturday afternoon when it faces off against Vanderbilt on Senior Day. Tipoff between the Vols and Commodores is at 2 p.m. ET in Knoxville. ESPN is broadcasting the game.
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