STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team turned in a dominant 73-64 road triumph Wednesday night over Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum.
Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie paced Tennessee (17-7, 7-4 SEC) with 18 points in a game it never trailed and led by as many as 23.
The Volunteers opened with dunks on each of their first four possessions, but could not create early separation. Mississippi State (11-13, 3-8 SEC) junior guard Josh Hubbard scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first 7:42 to make the score 16 apiece at that time.
Tennessee countered with seven consecutive points, including a fifth dunk, in just 60 seconds. The Bulldogs then scored the next six points—half on a long-range shot by Hubbard on his next shot—to make it 23-22 with 9:30 on the first-half timer. They pulled level at 25 just 91 seconds after that, but Tennessee then grabbed control of the game.
The Volunteers went on a 12-0 run in 5:17 during a stretch of 6:54 in which they held Mississippi State scoreless and forced nine consecutive misses. That helped them take an 11-point edge, 39-28, into the locker room. Hubbard scored 20 points in the first half on 8-of-13 shooting, including a 3-of-6 mark from deep, but Tennessee held his teammates to eight points on a 3-of-17 clip, with a 1-of-7 tally beyond the arc.
Gillespie scored seven points in the first 114 seconds of the second half, sparking an 11-2 run to put the Volunteers ahead by 20, 50-30, with 16:39 to go. The onslaught continued from there, as Tennessee—aided by holding Mississippi State without a made field goal for 4:08—stretched the margin to a game-high 23, 63-40, with 10:14 left.
The Bulldogs responded with an 18-0 run, hitting seven straight field goals (two from deep) and two free throws in 4:38, to cut their deficit to five, 63-58, with 5:15 on the clock. That came during a period in which Tennessee missed nine field-goal attempts in a row and went scoreless for 5:16.
The Volunteers, though, regrouped and scored the next eight points—six came on three-point plays by freshman forward Nate Ament—in 81 seconds to make it 71-58 with just 3:37 remaining. Mississippi State never got closer than nine the rest of the way and Tennessee improved to 3-1 in its last four SEC road games.
Gillespie added five assists, four rebounds and one steal to his team-best point total. Ament scored 16 points, half of which came in the last five minutes after the Mississippi State run, and dished out a career-high-tying five assists.
Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high three blocks, the latter mark leading all players. Sophomore guard Bishop Boswell set a career best with eight assists, plus grabbed seven rebounds and chipped in four points.
Hubbard finished as the only Bulldog in double figures, as he dropped 31 points on 13-of-24 shooting. He amassed the most points and made field goals by a Tennessee opposing player in the last two seasons. Hubbard shot 4-of-9 from 3-point range and split his two free throws.
The rest of the Mississippi State roster totaled 33 points on a 12-of-37 field-goal count, including a 3-of-13 ledger from 3-point range.
Tennessee recorded a 42-24 advantage in paint points and logged its second-best free-throw clip of the season with an 83.3 percent (15-of-18) mark.
The Volunteers are back in action for the first of two straight home games Saturday at 6 p.m. when they host LSU at Food City Center, live on SEC Network.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS POSTGAME NOTES
• Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes now owns 853 victories in his career, again tying John Calipari for first place among all active Division I head coaches and for ninth all-time (min. 10 years in Division I).
• The Volunteers improved to 23-8 against the SEC’s two Mississippi schools—that includes a 11-3 record since 2021-22—under the leadership of Barnes, who is 26-8 versus those teams in his career.
• The Volunteers are now 92-46 all-time against Mississippi State, good for twice as many wins as losses, with the 92 victories their third-most against any foe, trailing only Vanderbilt (132) and Georgia (101).
• Tennessee improved to 17-5 in its last 22 outings versus Mississippi State (since Jan. 19, 2013) and to 11-3 in its last 14 series matchups (since Feb. 27, 2018).
• Wednesday marked just the fifth regular season game Tennessee has played in the last six seasons (2020-26) during which it was unranked in the AP Poll, alongside a 65-54 home win over Florida on March 7, 2021; a 79-73 road win at Alabama on Jan. 24, 2026; an 86-85 overtime road win at Georgia on Jan. 28, 2026; and a 77-69 home win over Auburn on Jan. 31, 2026.
• Tennessee has logged double-digit offensive rebounds in 23 of 24 games this year, with 15-plus in 15 outings, 17-plus nine times and 20-plus on five occasions, with a high of 26.
• The Volunteers have grabbed at least 35 total boards in 21 of 24 contests, with 40-plus in 15, 42-plus in 14, 46-plus in 11 and 50-plus in six, with a top tally of 60.
• Through 24 outings thus far, Tennessee has amassed 13-plus assists on 21 occasions, with 17-plus in 15 games, 20-plus in six and 23-plus in four.
• Across its 24 games this season, Tennessee has played just two that did not feature a double-digit lead for either side, including only six that did not include a 14-point margin one way and 10 that did not have a 23-point lead at any time.
• The Volunteers shot over 80.0 percent from the line for the third time this season, with the 83.3 mark trailing only its 88.6 percent (31-of-35) ledger Nov. 20 against Tennessee State.
• Tennessee totaled six dunks in the first 11 minutes of the contest, three by senior forward Felix Okpara, two by Estrella and one by Ament.
• Before Hubbard, the last player with 30-plus points against Tennessee was Montana’s Money Williams who had 30 on Nov. 13, 2024, while the last SEC player to hit that mark was Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham, who had 35 on Feb. 3, 2024.
• Hubbard became just the fifth player in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) to make 13-plus field goals against Tennessee, joining Purdue’s Zach Edey (13-of-21 on March 31, 2024, in Detroit), Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham (14-of-20 on Feb. 3, 2024), Texas A&M’s Elston Turner (16-of-33 on Feb. 23, 2013, in a four-overtime game) and Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks (15-of-22 on Jan. 13, 2009), with the Volunteers posting a 3-2 record in those games.
• Hubbard’s 20 first-half points, 17 of which came in the opening 10 minutes, marked the most in a frame by a Tennessee opponent this season, eclipsing the 19 first-half points by Syracuse’s Nate Kingz on Dec. 2 and the 19 second-half points by Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., on Jan. 3.
• The last Tennessee opponent to score 20-plus in a half was Missouri’s Tamar Bates, who had 22 after the break on Feb. 5, 2025, while the last to do it in the first half was Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, who had 20 on Jan. 15, 2020.
• Hubbard’s eight first-half made field goals—he hit his first four attempts in the opening 5:05—also marked the most in a session by a Tennessee foe this year, eclipsing the seven second-half makes by Kentucky’s Denzel Aberdeen in a Jan. 17 game.
• Boswell tied his prior career-best assist total for a full game with six in the first 12:32 alone, logging three in the opening 2:40.
• Boswell’s eight assists eclipsed his prior career high of six, set Dec. 30, 2025, versus South Carolina State.
• Boswell pulled down seven-plus rebounds for the fifth consecutive game after hitting that mark twice previously in his career.
• Estrella registered multiple blocks—he finished with three—in a game for the first time in his career, after previously logging one on 10 occasions.
• The six made free throws for Estrella set a new career best, eclipsing the prior high of five he set Jan. 6, 2026, against Texas.
• Estrella’s seven free-throw attempts tied the top mark of his career, which he previously recorded in the team’s last outing just four days ago at Kentucky.
• Ament scored 16-plus points for the 16th time this season and hit that number for the ninth contest in a row.
• The five assists for Ament set a new SEC best and matched the career high he set both Nov. 8 against Northern Kentucky and Nov. 12 versus North Florida.
