No. 20 Tennessee is eyeing another nonconference victory Sunday when it hosts Gardner-Webb in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Volunteers (8-3) are coming off an impressive victory over No. 11 Louisville, winning comfortably by double figures, 83-62, on Tuesday. It marked the second time this season Tennessee had defeated an opponent ranked inside the top 15 of the AP Top 25 Poll.
Tennessee trailed for only 40 seconds against the Cardinals. Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 20 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. It marked his fifth 20-point performance of the season and featured the senior guard shooting a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
“My teammates were setting me up well, and the bigs, they were ducking in, allowing me to get easy layups,” Gillespie said. “So, just my teammates getting me going.”
Gillespie, a transfer from Maryland, leads the Vols in scoring this season with 17.8 points per game. Nate Ament is the other double-digit scorer for the Vols, posting 16.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Gillespie is also averaging a career-best 5.4 assists per game this season.
While Tennessee’s season so far has featured some strong offensive performances, it’s the Vols’ defense that has powered it so far. Tennessee ranks 25th nationally in field goals allowed per game (22.5) and 34th in opponent 3-point shooting percentage (28.6%). They also rank third in defensive rebounds allowed per game, giving up just 18.6.
“I really felt we were locked in maybe as well defensively as we’ve been all year against a team,” coach Rick Barnes said.
The Vols face a Runnin’ Bulldogs (2-12) team that has struggled mightily this season and has yet to defeat a Division I opponent. They’re coming off a 105-65 victory over Toccoa Falls, a non-NCAA program, and fell 83-57 on Monday to Wofford.
Against major conference opponents, Gardner-Webb has endured lopsided losses to Minnesota and Clemson.
Gardner-Webb is armed with a Tennessee transfer on its roster. Former Vol DJ Jefferson is averaging 6.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game for the Runnin’ Bulldogs this season. The former four-star recruit scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting against Toccoa Falls.
Jacob Hogarth leads Gardner-Webb with 11.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game this season. Jacob Hudson (10.9) and Spence Sims (10.5) round out the double-digit scoring for Gardner Webb who, as a team, shoot just 42.8% from the field.
Under second-year coach Jeremy Luther, the Runnin’ Bulldogs rank 308th nationally in scoring at 70.8 points per contest and 352nd in points allowed with 87.1 points per game.
–Field Level Media
