Jordan Bowden scored 19 points as No. 21 Tennessee defeated Jacksonville State 75-53 on Saturday to give Volunteers coach Rick Barnes his 700th career victory
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. —
Jordan Bowden scored 19 points as No. 21 Tennessee defeated Jacksonville State 75-53 on Saturday to give Volunteers coach Rick Barnes his 700th career victory.
Barnes improved his record to 700-367 record in 32 seasons at George Mason (1987-88), Providence (1988-94), Clemson (1994-98), Texas (1998-2015) and Tennessee (2015-present).
He’s the seventh active coach to earn 700 career Division I wins. The others are Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, West Virginia’s Bob Huggins, Coastal Carolina’s Cliff Ellis and Kentucky’s John Calipari.
Tennessee (8-3) withstood an early 7 ½-minute scoring drought to help Barnes reach that milestone as the Vols bounced back from consecutive losses to No. 11 Memphis and Cincinnati. The setback against Memphis snapped the Vols’ 31-game home winning streak.
Playing one day after the death of his grandmother, Bowden sank four 3-pointers to lead a balanced scoring attack for Tennessee.
John Fulkerson added 16 points. Yves Pons had 11 points, nine rebounds and a career-high six blocks. Josiah-Jordan James provided 10 points, six rebounds and six assists. Lamonte’ Turner had eight points and 11 assists.
Ty Hudson scored 11 points for Jacksonville State (4-8).
Tennessee missed 12 straight shots while going scoreless for a span of 7 minutes, 31 seconds, at one point in the first half. That enabled Jacksonville State to go on a 10-0 run and grab a 16-13 lead with less than seven minutes left until halftime.
The Vols answered with an 8-0 spurt of their own that included consecutive 3-pointers from Bowden, but they still couldn’t pull away and only led 30-26 at halftime. Tennessee finally created some separation by shooting 59.4% in the second half
BIG PICTURE
Jacksonville State: Hudson’s performance should provide the Gamecocks with some confidence even after a lopsided loss. Hudson followed up a 19-point performance in a blowout of Delaware State by reaching double figures again Saturday. He has shot 11 of 14 over his last two games. Before this stretch, Hudson had gone just 18 of 59 from the floor.
Tennessee: The defense that has carried Tennessee this seasons delivered a more characteristic performance Saturday after never showing up at Cincinnati. In the Vols’ 78-66 to Cincinnati, the Bearcats scored the most points of any Tennessee opponent all season and shot 56.4%. Before that game, no Tennessee opponent had shot better than 41.1%. Tennessee collected five steals in the first 4 ½ minutes Saturday as Jacksonville State shot just 37%.
UP NEXT
Jacksonville State hosts National Christian College Athletic Association program Carver College on Dec. 28.
Tennessee hosts Wisconsin on Dec. 28.
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