Tennessee guard Jordan Gainey burst through the gates during his first few games in a Volunteers uniform this season. The former USC Upstate transfer found double-digit scoring outputs in six out of his first seven contests with a high of 16 against Wofford in the third game of the season.
With Tennessee looking to figure out the transition between recovering guard Zakai Zeigler (ACL injury) and the backup, Gainey’s scoring production was a positive sign for the Vols early on.
Gainey, the son of Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey, hit a snag in December, though. The junior guard didn’t hit double-digits in scoring all month and ended with a 6.6 PPG scoring average. January hadn’t been too kind to Gainey, either. The backup guard’s scoring average dipped down to just 1.4 PPG through the first five contests with three straight zero-point games heading into Saturday’s contest against Alabama.
Gainey, though, held firm in his preparation.
“Definitely could be playing better but just really trying to get better every day,” Gainey said in a self-assessment in mid-January.
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Despite the tough two-month stretch, the 6-foot-3 guard showed shades of November basketball against Alabama this past weekend. While it’s tough to say whether he is fully broken out of his scoring slump or not, Gainey returned to the scoring sheet in the conference rivalry matchup.
Gainey knocked down three of his five three-point attempts on Saturday after missing his last seven attempts over the previous three games. Gainey finished the game with 15 points, his highest scoring output since the Nov. 21 game against Purdue in the Maui Invitational, on 4-of-7 shooting with five rebounds and three steals.
Despite his big scoring game against the Crimson Tide, head coach Rick Barnes was encouraged by Gainey’s continued defensive improvement that was shown in the game. Barnes spoke about how Tennessee’s trust is growing when it comes to Gainey guarding some of the opposition’s more dangerous players when the time comes.
While it seems fairly reasonable to believe that Jordan Gainey is itching to get back on the court to continue to find his stroke, the Vols will have a full week of time before their next game. An open date in the middle of the week results in Tennessee’s next contest coming against Vanderbilt next Saturday evening in Nashville.
Is Gainey out of his slump? With only one game, it’s hard to tell. But, either way, Gainey’s breakout game against Alabama could be a sign of good things to come.
One Response
Wow a great game.