Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

LAS VEGAS — Bishop Boswell led a new look Tennessee basketball team to an old school Vol hoops win, forcing a seven-minute second half scoring drought to earn a 76-73 victory over No. 3 Houston.

Three quick takeaways on a marquee early season win for the Vols.

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Tennessee Did It With Nate Ament Struggling

Tennessee stars Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament were both fantastic in the Vols’ blowout win over Rutgers on Monday. But both came out relatively slow with Ament struggling on the offensive end throughout the game.

Ament scored Tennessee’s first three points at the foul line but missed all five of his first half field goal attempts. Chris Cenac had a fantastic help side block on a strong Ament drive and it felt like slightly shook his confidence.

The five-star freshman also played just 10 minutes in the first half after picking up his second foul with 6:52 to play and spent more time on the bench after picking up a questionable third foul early in the second half. Ament made just one field goal and finished the game with nine points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.

Ament, as well as JP Estrella, battling foul trouble in the first half forced Ja’Kobi Gillespie to lead much of Tennessee’s offense. Gillespie was more effective than Ament, scoring seven points but was also inefficient making just two-of-eight shot attempts in the first half.

Gillespie’s second half was relatively similar. Tennessee asked him to do a lot and he wasn’t overly efficient but he continually came up big in key moments throughout the half, finishing the night with 22 points, four assists and a highly impressive zero turnovers.

Bishop Boswell Couldn’t Stop Making Plays

Bishop Boswell had shown some serious flashes in his first three games played this season. But it was still eye-opening to see Boswell turn in Tennessee’s best performance in a top five matchup. While Tennessee’s other guards often struggled to stay in front of Houston’s guards, Bishop was absolutely stellar defensively.

The sophomore guard started on Kingston Flemings but guarded multiple Houston guards and made their life difficult. His impact went beyond the box score but three steals and one block illustrated his impact.

Offense has always been the question for Boswell and he wasn’t a superstar there but found a way to make a serious impact on that end of the court. He finished in transition, including a couple really nice ones, and finished the game with 10 points on just four shots thanks to two clutch late game free throws.

Boswell also added four rebounds and totaled three assists. The sophomore shooting guard seemed to step up and deliver a big play whenever Tennessee needed it.

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A Tale Of Two Halves Defensively

Houston came out the gates hot offensively, scoring 27 points in the first 10 minutes and change. Hot shooting played a part with the Cougars making four of their first six three-point attempts. But Tennessee also struggled to defend Houston off the bounce.

Boswell was good defensively but Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Amaree Abram and especially Ethan Burg struggled to stay in front of the Cougars’ talented guards. The result was a 38-point first half where Houston shot 50% from the field and scored over 1.2 points per possession.

But that changed in the second half. Led by Boswell, Tennessee’s perimeter defense completely turned the tide of the game. Houston had a seven-plus minute scoring drought that saw Tennessee turn a five-point deficit into a five-point lead.

Houston got its offense going late but the performance for much of the second half still kept the Cougars at 34 second half points on 42% shooting from the field.

Up Next

Tennessee basketball concludes its week in Las Vegas likely on Wednesday. The exact tip-off time and broadcast details are not yet set.