KNOXVILLE — Coaches since the dawn of mankind have stressed to their backup players to make the most of their opportunities whenever they’re presented.
Tennessee senior guard Jordan Gainey continues to thrive in that role.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder, who began his college career at USC Upstate, has played in 65 games for the Volunteers the past two seasons with only one start. Yet when starting Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler is relegated to the bench for lengthy stretches, Gainey always seems to deliver.
Such was the case this past Saturday, when Zeigler picked up two fouls within the first four minutes against Alabama and Gainey produced an 18-point performance in the 79-76 victory.
“I guard him all the time in practice, and he doesn’t get the credit as a scorer that he should,” fellow senior guard Jahmai Mashack, who hit the game-winner from 32 feet against the Crimson Tide, said after the thrilling triumph. “He’s one of those guys who can run off six or eight straight points, and you really can’t do anything about it. He’s a three-level scorer. He can draw fouls.
“He’s one of those players who is hard to game plan for, and he works as hard as anybody on this team.”
The Vols, who improved to 24-5 overall and to 11-5 in Southeastern Conference play with the win over the Crimson Tide, moved up to No. 4 in Monday’s latest Associated Press poll. Tennessee travels to Ole Miss on Wednesday night (9 on ESPN2) and hosts South Carolina on Saturday afternoon (2 on the SEC Network), needing just a split of those games to collect a double-bye in next week’s league tournament in Nashville.
Saturday marked the third time this season in which Gainey has stepped up significantly in a marquee matchup.
When Tennessee traveled to Illinois on Dec. 14, Zeigler picked up two fouls in the first half and two more in the first two minutes of the second half. Zeigler and Chaz Lanier would eventually foul out of that game, but Gainey responded with a 23-point effort that included an 8-of-9 showing at the free-throw line and a driving layup at the buzzer for a 66-64 Vols victory.
Gainey made his lone career start Feb. 1 against visiting Florida due to Zeigler sitting out with a knee injury, and he helped Tennessee surprisingly wallop the Gators 64-44 with 16 points, five assists and four rebounds in a season-high 37 minutes.
“I feel more comfortable and ready this year because I get to go against Zakai every single day in practice,” Gainey said. “I’ve been battling him since April of last year, playing one-on-one three hours a day and just going at each other. Whenever we scrimmage, we’re not friends. Nobody is friends in those scrimmages, because it’s a constant battle.
“Being able to translate those days to real games now has paid off in just seeing myself grow and be more comfortable in these roles.”
Gainey averages 27.3 minutes per game, which ranks ahead of starters Igor Milicic Jr. (26.6) and Felix Okpara (25.4), and he is providing 10.8 points and 3.4 rebounds a contest. He has 55 assists to 29 turnovers and has also tallied 32 steals.
His 80.6% accuracy from the free-throw line not only came into play at Illinois, but Saturday as well as he sank all six attempts, and he also had the more-than-expected chore of defending Alabama standout senior Mark Sears.
“He’s improved in so many different ways,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “When he gets going, he’s got that mid-range game. He loves it, and he’s good at it. He’s become arguably our best driver, and he can score at all three levels. He’s worked so hard to get better defensively.
“At the most critical times, he’s been at his best, and he’s just a huge part of this.”
Zeigler a finalist
Zeigler was named Monday afternoon as one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, which is given annually to college basketball’s top point guard.
Joining Zeigler as finalists are Alabama’s Sears, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Marquette’s Kam Jones and Purdue’s Braden Smith.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.