KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men's basketball team started its conference home slate Tuesday night with a commanding 85-71 defeat of Texas.
Senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie dropped a career-high 34 points for No. 21 Tennessee (11-4, 1-1 SEC) at Food City Center in a game his team trailed for just 104 early seconds.
After the Volunteers raced out multiple early six-point advantages, Texas (9-6, 0-2 SEC) scored seven straight points in 60 seconds to take its first lead, 12-11, with 14:10 left in the opening half. However, following a split of the next four points, Tennessee went on a 15-3 run in 4:09—it included 10 consecutive points in 2:19—to go up by 11, 28-17, with 8:18 on the timer.
Late in the stanza, the home team scored eight unanswered points in 56 seconds—Gillespie capped the surge with back-to-back 3-pointers—to go up by 16 points, 44-28, with 1:27 to go in the session. Tennessee ultimately took a 45-33 edge into the locker room, with 22 of its points coming from Gillespie, who went 8-of-10 from the floor, 3-of-4 beyond the arc and 3-of-3 at the line.
The Greeneville, Tenn., native's play helped the Volunteers shoot 63.0 percent (17-of-27) in the opening 20 minutes, while the Longhorns had a 39.3 percent (11-of-28) ledger. Tennessee also doubled up Texas in paint points, 28-14, and near tripled up in fast-break points, 13-5.
The Volunteers scored the first eight points of the second half to go in front by a game-high 23, 56-33, with 17:44 left, making it an extended 20-5 run over 4:28 dating to the first stanza. They did not allow a point for the first 3:22 of the frame.
Aided by a 1-of-9 stretch from Tennessee following its dazzling 20-of-31 start the Longhorns—they made six of seven shots after a 12-of-34 opening—clawed to within 10, 61-51, at the 10:34 mark. The Volunteers, though, responded with a 7-0 burst in just 52 ticks to stretch the advantage back to 17, 68-51, with 9:13 remaining.
Texas never got any closer than 11 the rest of the way, as Tennessee held a double-digit margin for the final 24-plus minutes, despite four starters committing four fouls apiece.
Gillespie, who missed just four shots in the first 38 minutes, went 12-of-18 from the field to set a career best in makes. He shot 5-of-8 from 3-point range and hit all five of his free throws, plus notched five assists, four rebounds and three steals, with only two turnovers.
The 6-foot-1, 188-pounder became just the second SEC player in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) with 34 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, alongside LSU's Ben Simmons, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, who did so in non-conference action. He also became the fifth Power Six competitor in that span to hit those marks in league play, joining a list that includes Washington's Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 pick in 2017.
Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella amassed 11 points and a game-high six rebounds. He went 5-of-6 from the line to set career bests in both makes and attempts. Freshman forward DeWayne Brown II put up 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Junior forward Jaylen Carey also recorded 10 points and four rebounds in the victory.