Oklahoma v Florida Highlights
Tennessee went on the road in front of a full capacity crowd for the first time in nearly two years Saturday, defeating Colorado 69-54.
Josiah Jordan James returned to the lineup for Tennessee after missing three straight games with a torn ligament in his finger. James did what he does best, filling up the stat sheet and doing everything for UT on the defensive end.
The junior forward scored five points on three shots while grabbing nine rebounds, blocking four shots and recording two steals.
“It was phenomenal,” James said of playing a true road game. “We sat on the close end to the student section so they were rowdy and had a lot of energy and stuff to say. It was good. I definitely missed that over the past two years and I’m excited for all the road games this year. Colorado definitely had a great crowd today.”
However, the star of the show Saturday was Tennessee point guard Kennedy Chandler. The five-star freshman carried the load for Tennessee offensively on a day that the offense struggled. Chandler scored a game high 29 points on 13-of-20 shooting while dishing out a pair of assists.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes was thrilled with his team’s resilience post game as the Vols responded well to foul trouble and a poor start.
“I like to think that each game we go out, these young guys are going to learn some things,” Barnes said. “I think what they’re learning is that every game will take on its own personality; every game is going to be a little bit different. We’ve played against really well coached teams and we’ll continue to do that. We keep talking about letting our habits work for us. We got a little bit sloppy with the ball. We don’t like to turn the ball over, but we started the half just not playing very good basketball, and those are the areas we’ve got to get better with.”
Barnes also discussed James’ “excellent performance”, Chandler’s special night and Tennessee’s defensive intensity.
