Wins over Mercer, Northern Kentucky, North Florida, Rice and Tennessee State were unimpressive to the national media.
That’s what Tennessee basketball’s resume consisted of before landing in the Entertainment Capital of the World.
Now two games into the Players Era Men’s Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Vols have provided the entertainment. And that outside discourse can be silenced, because Tennessee has added two Power Conference wins by way of a 25-point win over Rutgers and a Final Four-like thriller over No. 3 Houston.
Tennessee entered the week as the No. 13 team in the KenPom rankings. After two wins, and one over the previous No. 4 team, the Vols have jumped up to No. 10.
“Well, everybody had heard the chatter that we hadn’t played anybody, but we had,” Barnes said. “We had a great scrimmage against Ohio State and then we had a great exhibition game against Duke. We knew after both of those that if we could continue to grow that we had a chance. We’ve got a group of guys that really like each other. They work hard. They work hard every day. More and more guys are starting to understand their roles.”
Those players settling into their roles are what led to Tennessee’s 76-73 upset win on Tuesday at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie struggled with efficiency, shooting 5-for-16 from the field, though he made do with a team-high 22 points. Nate Ament did not get his first made basket until there were five minutes left in the game — and it came by chance on a missed fastbreak layup, in which it became his only made shot in a 1-for-9 shooting night. He was limited by three quick fouls, holding him to the bench scenery.
But that made room for unsung hero Bishop Boswell to contribute a career-high 10 points, on perfect 4-for-4 efficiency. It made room for Jaylen Carey to put down 13 points while using his 270-pound frame in a game dominated by physicality.
For the 23 points that the two scored, it was their effort that proved to be the difference. Carey stepped up down the stretch, adding a pair of buckets simply because he is built like his offensive-tackle father.
He put forth a crucial putback on a Felix Okpara missed free throw to give Tennessee a four-point lead with two minutes remaining. On the next possession, he threw down a vicious slam on a feed from Gillespie to keep the lead at two possessions. That came with seven rebounds for the big man, hauling in four on the offensive end.
“We knew that if we’d be talking about what we had done up until this point with this group of guys, want to make this their team and their season, and they’ve worked at it now for six, seven months,” Barnes said. “And just a great team — it was truly a great team effort by so many different guys.”
Boswell picked right back up where he left off against Rutgers. He did not skip a beat after missing three games, and those effort plays were on full display in a game where the opposing team matched Boswell’s intensity.
He battled through for four rebounds (three offensive), three assists, three steals and a block.
Boswell’s most important play of the night came on a tip-out rebound beyond the 3-point line with 12:32 left in the game. He immediately looked to be the facilitator, targeted the paint, and fired a pass to J.P. Estrella for an easy layup — giving Tennessee its first lead since the opening five minutes of the game.
That officially completed the Vols’ comeback from 11 points down, and allowed the Vols to hold on for the remainder of the way.
“I think he’s really starting to understand the game more and more,” Barnes said. “But you have to have a guy that plays that role. In some ways it might be the most important role on the team. I know one thing, it’s definitely the hardest in terms of just having to go out and grind it out. And not only is he doing that, he’s trying to get down the court, doing what he needs to do offensively. Tonight I thought he impacted the game in more ways than just his defense.”
Ultimately, though, it is his defense that earned him 32 minutes on the court. He played a key role in forcing Houston into a 7:22-minute scoring drought in the second half. The Cougars missed 11 consecutive shots and needed a free throw to finally break the scoreless streak with eight minutes left in the game.
Boswell’s continued court-diving antics have him turning defense into offense, and that is important when the Vols are replacing 2024-25 Field of 68 Defensive Player of the Year Jahmai Mashack.
“I think he’s becoming one of the best defensive guards in the country,” Barnes said. “And there’s no doubt that it’s a hard role to put a player to want to buy into, to want to do it, but he’s all about team.”
His game was recognized from the opposing bench. Mentioned by one that has been in the industry just as long as his own head coach, and consistently garners one of the top defensive units in the country, at that.
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson ensured he shouted-out Boswell postgame.
“The kid that should be mentioned, though, not a lot of people will remember his impact, but it was Bishop Boswell,” Sampson said. “He impacted that game. No idea what his future holds in this game, but that kid is a winner. He was the toughest guy on the floor tonight … A lot of respect for that young man. He’s tough and he’s a winner. Every coach in America would love to have Boswell.”
Tennessee will wrap up its loaded Vegas slate with a third-place battle with Kansas at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
