KNOXVILLE - No shot was bigger in Tennessee's basketball victory against Ole Miss on Wednesday than the 3-pointer Jordan Bowden made from the wing with the shot clock winding down and less than a minute remaining in a two-point game.
The freshman wouldn't mind more big-shot opportunities coming his way.
"I would say that's probably the biggest so far (in my career)," Bowden said before the Volunteers practiced at Thompson-Boling Arena on Friday ahead of today's visit from Georgia.
Bowden's shot pushed the Vols' lead to five and sealed a win they badly needed for their NCAA tournament hopes.
The Knoxville product played more than 30 minutes for the fourth straight game, and in that span he averaged 12 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals - all increases over his season averages - and shot 23 free throws after attempting just 33 in the first 20 games of the season.
Bowden has started all but one of Tennessee's 24 games and leads the team in steals.
"He's shown great progress, but we've still got a ways to go here in this season at this point," Vols coach Rick Barnes said. "I don't think it's a stretch by saying he's probably been the biggest surprise of all the freshmen that we signed in the fact that he was one of the last guys that we signed.
"He came in and he's really become a two-way player, someone that we can count on on the defensive end as well as on the offensive end. It's really important for him that he keeps improving."
Where the 6-foot-3 guard has improved the most is defensively, as he's gone from an occasional liability early in the season to the player who defends the opponent's best perimeter scorer.
Bowden admitted he wasn't a very good defender early this season.
"I think he listens," Barnes said. "He has the attitude that he wants to do his job. I think he's a very unselfish player, and I think he sees the game in a way that you would like a player to see it - the details that go into it, understanding how important it is to do your job and be on edge. That's where he's gotten better.
"Now he's often drawing the defensive assignment at the start of the game for the other team's best perimeter player. We expect him to do what he does on the offensive end for us, but I just think he's worked at it, not only from a physical standpoint, but I think mentally he's worked really hard at trying to understand what goes into winning."
For the Vols to remain in the hunt for the NCAA tournament, they have to keep winning.
Tennessee moved into the projected field in ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi's updated bracket Friday.
"We see that a lot on social media," Bowden said. "They talk about it, but we're just focused on every game and trying to get better each game. We're not really worried about it right now."
Barnes took it a step further.
"I'm telling you the honest truth. I have no idea what our overall record is right now," he said. "I have no idea. I don't look at standings. I tell the guys, we don't put up standings in there (the locker room). We don't talk about where we are, because it's not about looking down the road to see where we are. It's about today and today only.
"That's how I've always gone about my job. I don't want to think about a number. I just think that if you win enough games and do what you're supposed to do, at the end it will take care of itself."
With at least 13 points in five of Tennessee's past seven games, Bowden is doing his part, though it'll be hard for him to top the shot he made a couple of nights ago.
"Coach always tells me to shoot the wide-open shots," he said. "Lamonte (Turner), I told him before the play, I was like, 'If you see me open, I'm going to shoot it.' He gave it to me and I made it."
"In practice he always tells me to shoot wide-open shots and shoot with confidence, and that's what I did."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.