While most eyes remain fixated on the Vols’ search for a new football coach, the Tennessee men’s basketball team is off to its best single-season start this decade.
Through seven games, Tennessee has suffered just one loss, including statement victories over No. 18 Purdue and North Carolina State during the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.
One aspect that the Vols have particularly thrived on this year is long-distance shooting. As a team, Tennessee is hitting 3-pointers at a .426 clip while attempting roughly 21 shots from that distance per game. At the forefront of that trend has been sophomore guard Jordan Bowden, who has made strides in that area entering his second year of collegiate play.
As a freshman, Bowden attempted 111 total 3-pointers and connected on 31.5 percent of those shots. This season, he is knocking down approximately two per game while shooting at a .640 rate. Bowden’s approach as a Vol has been to mesh within the flow of the team’s offense and get his shots that way.
“Just finding spots and people have been getting me open,” Bowden said. “I don’t have to be more selfish (in hunting my shot).”
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has stated that he believes that Bowden is also the team’s best practice player.
“He’s probably our best two-way player in terms of doing what he needs to do day in and day out,” Barnes said. “He’s been doing a lot of good things.”
While Bowden’s free throw shooting is down from last year (66.7 percent), he’s experiencing career highs in several other areas, including points (10.6), field goal percentage (.587) and rebounds (3.4).
Barnes credits that to his willingness to move without the ball and says that Bowden has been making “effort plays” that the other guards have not been making lately.
“He’s doing a lot of good things. He’s the best guy on our team in moving without the ball,” Barnes said. “He’s starting to find gaps in the zone, and if it comes down to effort, he’s going to give us that on both ends.”
With Tennessee (6-1) moving back into the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the first time since Bruce Pearl was the head coach of the Vols, expectations are beginning to mount as the season progresses. Despite the outside noise, Bowden has remained focused on the task at hand.
“It’s a mindset, just wanting to get better in practice and bringing it every day.” Bowden said. “Last year, I was just trying to get by because I was young, but now I know how important it is.”
The Vols’ upcoming schedule includes matchups with No. 11 North Carolina and Wake Forest before conference play begins on Dec. 30. Bowden, currently fourth on the team in scoring, may be instrumental in Tennessee’s efforts to return to the big leagues.
Although he’s has enjoyed a fairly successful start to his sophomore campaign, Barnes believes the Knoxville native still has a lot to give in terms of improvement, and consistency will be the key.
“There’s still another level he can get to,” Barnes said. “There really is.”
