Tennessee senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the way with a team-high 21 points in the Vols’ 79-72 win over 3-seed Virginia on Friday night. He’s now scored 50 points in Tennessee’s two tournament games this weekend with the Vols moving on to the Sweet 16 next week in Chicago, IL.
Gillespie had the hot hand with six made shots and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line on Sunday, but his teammates helped him out in a big way throughout the game. Bishop Boswell scored 13 points, including three three-pointers in the first half, and tallied nine assists. Tennessee star freshman Nate Ament had 16 points, while Jaylen Carey and JP Estrella combined for 20 points with 10 each.
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Ament, Boswell, and Gillespie were Tennessee’s three player representatives during the postgame press conference on Sunday night. Here’s a look at everything the players said after their Round of 32 win:
Q. This one is for Nate. I know you have been battling through a lot of injuries. Do you feel like playing a Virginia team as a Virginia native yourself gives you a little extra juice to fight some of the extra stuff you have been dealing with?
NATE AMENT: No, not necessarily. For me, I wanted to do it for my teammates and this university. I owe them so much. The least I could do is fight through this.
Q. This one is also for Nate. Just the guys in general, Nate, you had a slow start to the first half. Second half, you were much more aggressive, scored the opening eight points. Was the message to you to get more involved? What led to that change coming out into the second half?
NATE AMENT: I think the game just slowed down for me a little bit. Also, I was fighting fatigue in the first. Sitting out a couple of games, it’s hard to bounce back, but found my footing in the second. Also, my teammates for finding me, giving me open shots. I was trying to be more aggressive, make sure I was being aggressive also, not being too aggressive that I turn the ball over.
Q. Another question for Nate. This being your first NCAA Tournament, how have you leaned on Ja’Kobi and Bishop as lead guards and dependable players?
NATE AMENT: Yeah, they’ve just been super reliable, down the stretch especially, but these guys throughout this whole season have been super helpful to me just trying to learn the system, learn college basketball, but also I can lean on them when I’m not playing my best or I need a little extra help every day. These guys have been tremendous, not only this tournament, but throughout the whole season.
Q. Nate, after making one combined field goal the past two games against Vanderbilt and Miami, how does having 16 points tonight help your confidence moving forward in the tournament?
NATE AMENT: I wouldn’t say my confidence really wavered. To me, it was trusting that I don’t have to do much to help this team win. We have talented guys. I don’t have to come in and play every minute, score every point for us to win because we have talented guys on the floor.
Q. The way you guys moved the ball in the first half, what allowed you guys to make such crisp passes and get open shots for people?
BISHOP BOSWELL: I thought our bigs did a good job of screening, allowing us to hit them on the short row, the way they were kind of blanking, get our hands, and you also skip it, moving it around. If we moved it and screened them and executed the game more, we would be able to get open looks —
JA’KOBI GILLESPIE: Yeah, what he said. Just knowing what we’re looking for offensively, Just trusting what Barnes is putting us in and, yeah, just trusting each other to make the right plays.
Q. Ja’Kobi, I was wondering if you could talk about your thought on that lea that seemed like it was almost from half court and the very next play, you had that desperation lob for the alley-oop. What was going through your mind both of those plays and how much do you think that helped?
JA’KOBI GILLESPIE: Yeah, the three, I was definitely lucky. Getting a stop and then being able to convert in transition was good for us because it was harder to score when they had a set defense. Getting out and running was working for us.
Q. This one is for Bishop, I remember you mentioned a little while back about the physicality you guys were able to play with. Can you touch on how that preparation and the way that your strength really helps you in a game like this that got pretty physical towards the end.
BISHOP BOSWELL: Yeah, we have one of the best strength teams in the country, if not the best. Every other day, we’re lifting. There’s days we come in, we don’t want to lift, but day after a game, we’re going to get in. I think we show it night in and night out, how physical we are. Coach says every time someone comes to play us they talk about how they have to up the physicality, but what we do every day in practice set in. You can’t emulate that getting ready for a game. I think that’s a big part of us is being physical.
Q. How does Bishop having 13 points and 9 assists make your job so much easier on offense? We know he’s great on defense but how does that open up the floor for everyone else as a facilitator?
JA’KOBI GILLESPIE: It means everything. If he’s playing like that, that makes us a whole ‘nother team. I think we’re going to be really hard to beat with him doing that and, yeah, I feel like he had a great game today.
Q. This is a question for Bishop and Ja’Kobi. What is it about each other that complements each other’s games so well. You guys are probably two of the most communicative guards I’ve seen in the five games I’ve seen here. What makes you two work so well together?
JA’KOBI GILLESPIE: I think we just trust each other and really like playing with each other. We’re also roommates on the road, so we can’t get enough of each other. So, yeah, I feel like we’re just really locked in together.
RICK BARNES: You might want to retract that.
JA’KOBI GILLESPIE: No weird stuff, but, yeah.
BISHOP BOSWELL: I was going to say something similar but sadly, they roomed me with him. I’m with him 24/7 and we’re probably in the gym more than anybody in the country. I know I can lean on him. I know how talented he is. Any time I attack the gap and I see him open, I’m betting it’s going in.
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