Most of the attention was on Grant Williams’ career night on Wednesday when No. 1 Tennessee survived an upset bid by Vanderbilt and won in overtime. 88-83. But junior guard Jordan Bowden had arguably the play of the game, and he can add it to his highlight reel.
With about 3:23 left in the game and Vanderbilt leading 70-65, Tennessee had an inbounds play drawn up to get the ball to Jordan Bowden. Point guard Jordan Bone tossed up a pass toward the rim of the basket, and Jordan Bowden elevated. Bowden grabbed the ball with his right hand and then threw down an explosive dunk to pull the Vols to within three points.
The play drew Vol fans off their feet and provided a much-needed spark for Tennessee late in the game.
Here’s our take from the dunk:
Hey @SportsCenter, we have a Top 10 nominee for you: pic.twitter.com/34y4XeAHyB
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) January 24, 2019
Aaron Torres of FOX Sports and The Athletic said at the time he didn’t know if UT would win the game, but Bowden “won the night” with the dunk:
Don’t know if Tennessee will win this game, but Jordan Bowden just won the night. MERCY!!! pic.twitter.com/1AAVz2FLrr
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) January 24, 2019
The SEC Network was speechless after Bowden’s slam:
JORDAN BOWDEN ? pic.twitter.com/SNg8r5PEsF
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 24, 2019
And probably the coolest shot of the dunk came from VFL Films. Just watch:
Straight from a @VFL_Films camera… pic.twitter.com/s1cZYUnR0f
— Vol Network (@VolNetwork_IMG) January 24, 2019
After the game, head coach Rick Barnes was asked about that inbounds play, and he said he didn’t sign off on it at the time.
“Jordan Bone and Jordan Bowden looked at each other, but I wasn’t in position to tell them not to do it,” Barnes said, “and then they did it.”
Bowden finished the game with nine points, four rebounds, and two assists in 31 minutes. He had to sit for a bit in the game because of foul trouble after picking up his third foul in the second half. But when he was in, he had some productive plays.
His dunk, though, will be the play that gets remembered most from Wednesday night.
