After early stumbles, the Vols rally. Can Gillespie's surge and crucial comebacks spark consistent conference success and silence doubters?
Four games into Tennessee basketball’s 2026 Southeastern Conference schedule, the central question remains: Can the Vols prove their legitimacy and resolve lingering doubts?
That journey began on Jan. 3 as coach Rick Barnes and his team opened conference play on the road against John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The matchup did not end well for Tennessee. After ending the first half down just one point, the team fell behind in the second half, losing 86-75.
The story of the Arkansas game was the Vols’ inability to capitalize from the free-throw line; the team shot 12 of 23 from the line.
At this point, the Vols' loss to No. 18 Arkansas served as their fourth loss of the season, and they were in dire need of a win. A home matchup against Texas was next on the schedule.
The Vols bounced back, with a much more sound performance in front of the home crowd, handling the Longhorns 85-71 and earning the team’s first conference win of the season.
The game quickly became Ja’kobi Gillespie’s, and the statline shows that, through 37 minutes of play, the guard delivered 34 points on 12 of 18 shooting, while shooting 5 of 8 from the 3-point line.
Gillespie stepping up like this is a key factor for the Vols if they want to continue finding success in conference play. While other players have the potential to take over the game, such as freshman Nate Ament, having a veteran like Gillespie can take much-needed pressure off the weight of the team.
After Gillespie’s big game against Texas, the Vols hit the road once again, this time in a trip to Gainesville for a meeting against Florida.
From the get-go, there was a clear difference between the two teams. By the end of the first half for the Vols, they trailed 41-28. In terms of shooting percentages, the two teams weren’t starkly different; the Gators outshot the Vols 48% to 43%, while Tennessee shot the three-pointer ten percent better than the Gators.
Despite that, the Vols couldn’t capitalize on the simple things; they shot 65% from the free-throw line and turned the ball over 18 times over the game.
The 24-point loss was the largest deficit for the Vols this season to date, and urgency hit a new high as Texas A&M was welcomed to Knoxville for a battle on Tuesday night.
Barnes, before and after the game, spoke with his team about where they were in the season. With four freshmen -- Nate Ament, DeWayne Brown II, Troy Henderson and Amari Evans -- all playing integral roles, inconsistency will happen.
“But I told them, I said we won a lot of games here,” Barnes said. “We haven’t been a great offensive team — being a team that is really connected on the defensive end, a team that really rebounds the ball and gets second-chance points, and a team that limits teams to one shot. But we’ve got to decide who we’re going to be and how we’re going to do it.”
Despite a slow start, the Vols grabbed the massive comeback win over the Aggies, winning 87-82 in double overtime.
The biggest win of the season so far served as the team’s second double-digit comeback of the season.
Ament took another step up in the game; he finished with 23 points on the night, shooting 7 of 16 from the field, along with seven rebounds and two assists. He scored 10 in the two overtimes.
“Nate is learning,” Barnes said. “He would tell you, he would tell you that the physicality is much different than he ever could imagine. Even as much as we tried to beat him up this summer. But we do think if he gets to his spot that he’s a weapon, like getting the ball up over people.”
The Vols’ season continues on Saturday at home for a big matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats, who, like the Vols, have been on an up-and-down trajectory this year.