Tennessee senior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie was already having a productive Tuesday night against Texas when he connected on a 3-pointer with three minutes remaining that banked off the glass.
“That was definitely a lucky shot,” a smiling Gillespie said afterward in a news conference. “When it left my hands, I knew it was long, so I was just hoping it banked in.”
Gillespie’s final points of the night gave him a season-high 34 in the 85-71 thumping of the Longhorns, which topped the 32 he produced in late November against Rutgers in the opening round of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. The 6-foot-1, 188-pounder from Greeneville, Tennessee, was 12-of-18 from the floor against Texas, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
He also made all five of his free throws and collected five assists, four rebounds and three steals, playing a huge role in Tennessee posting a 27-13 advantage in points off turnovers.
“I thought he was really locked in,” coach Rick Barnes said after his Volunteers improved to 11-4 overall and 1-1 in Southeastern Conference play. “After Saturday’s game and our film session and with the boatload of mistakes that we made at Arkansas, he came out in practice and was really locked in to doing his part individually.