Tennessee had to work hard to hand head coach Rick Barnes a momentous win this week, and the Volunteers’ Saturday matchup with Auburn in Knoxville, Tenn., likely will be no different.
The Volunteers (14-6, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) may have another weapon in a rejuvenated J.P. Estrella.
Reaching 850 career wins in an 86-85 overtime outing at Georgia on Wednesday, Barnes watched Estrella, a 6-foot-11, 240-pound forward from Scarborough, Maine, total 17 points and nine rebounds, seven on the offensive end, leading to 14 second-chance points.
Estrella scored five points in OT, including the first bucket in the five-minute extra period and a later one that put the visitors up for good. The redshirt sophomore added a single free throw with 38 seconds left for an 83-80 edge, all vital points in the tough win.
“I’m happy for him,” Barnes said. “We’ve always loved him, we’ve always believed in him and we just know that, and he knows it — I’m going to tell him tomorrow — there’s still more. He’s raised the bar to where he’s doing what we know that he can do, but now we expect him to raise the bar even more.”
Estrella is the third-highest scorer for Tennessee at 9.1 points per game. Ja’Kobi Gillespie nets 19 points per contest and Nate Ament adds 16.3.
While the Volunteers earned impressive road wins in the past week over then-No. 17 Alabama and Georgia, Auburn (14-7, 5-3) won at then-No. 16 Florida last Saturday and handled Texas 88-82 on Wednesday for a fourth straight victory.
Keyshawn Hall, who tallies a team-best 20.9 points per game, averaged 24.7 points in the past three victories over Ole Miss, Florida and Texas.
“Not to be cocky, but I feel like I’m the best player in college,” the left-handed senior said after scoring 31 points against the Longhorns. “That’s my mentality. I just come out, keep working and keep going at it and try to just stay consistent in what I do.”
Helping the Tigers seek their fifth straight conference win will be Tahaad Pettiford (13.4 ppg), Kevin Overton (12.7) and KeShawn Murphy (10.5).
The Tigers average 85.1 points (34th in the country), while the Volunteers score 82.4 (71st).
Dating back to the 2017-18 season, Auburn has won eight of the teams’ past 12 matchups.
–Field Level Media
