KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Sophomore guard Jordan Bowden tied his career high with 21 points to lead No. 20/21 Tennessee to a hard-fought, 66-61 win over Furman on Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The final 12 minutes of the game featured eight lead changes and five ties. Tennessee (8-2) enjoyed a 47-33 rebounding advantage over the Paladins (9-4) in the win.
The Vols’ stars stepped up in the second half when they needed them. Bowden, who shot 6-for-14 for the night and collected six rebounds and three assists, scored nine points in the second half. Sophomore forward Grant Williams scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime and finished with eight rebounds. Junior forward Admiral Schofield posted the second double-double of his career with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Furman senior guard Devin Sibley, a Knoxville native who graduated from Karns High School, paced the Paladins with 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting.
With 54 seconds remaining, Williams made a jumper in the paint to give the Vols a 63-61 lead, and UT withstood a strong push from Furman down the stretch to pick up its eighth win of the season.
The Vols led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but Furman rallied with 12 minutes remaining to make it a one-possession game until the final five seconds, when James Daniel III made a pair of free throws to give UT the five-point win. Daniel, who transferred to UT from Howard, scored the 2,000th point of his career (currently 2,006) and remains the active NCAA Division I leader in career points.
Both teams experienced some early shooting woes over the first few minutes of the game, but Tennessee closed the first half with a 17-7 run over the final eight minutes to take a 29-26 lead into halftime. The Big Orange have yet to trail at the break this season.
Bowden paced the team with 12 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a 2-for-3 effort from 3-point range. The Vols had a 24-15 rebounding edge over the first 20 minutes, and Schofield collected six boards over that span.
DANIEL REACHES MAJOR MILESTONES: With 5:22 remaining in the first half, senior guard James Daniel III hit a stepback jumper to join the NCAA’s 2,000-point club. It was also the 100th career game for the Division I active career leading scorer.
SHARING IS CARING: Tennessee entered Wednesday night’s contest with the nation’s second-leading assist rate of 68 percent this season. Against Furman, UT assisted on 17 of its 23 buckets (74 percent).
KNOXVILLE NATIVES SHINE: Tennessee’s Jordan Bowden (Carter High School) and Furman’s Devin Sibley (Karns High School) both led their teams in scoring in the contest. Bowden tied his career-high with 21 points. Sibley dropped a game-high 22 in an impressive homecoming performance.
UP NEXT: The Vols will head to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to face Wake Forest on Saturday before beginning SEC play with a road trip to Arkansas the following weekend (Dec. 30).
-UT Athletics
