PHILADELPHIA , PA. — Ja’Kobi Gillespie didn’t take long to settle into his first NCAA Tournament game with Tennessee. Once he saw one shot fall, everything else followed.
Gillespie delivered a masterful performance in the Volunteers’ 78-56 win over Miami of Ohio, scoring 29 points and fueling the offense with both scoring and playmaking.
“I think really just my teammates trusting me and also just seeing one go through,” Gillespie said. “When I seen the first one go through how it did, I think it kind of gave me a sense of confidence to keep shooting.”
That confidence showed early. Out of the first media timeout, Gillespie knocked down a 3-pointer from the NCAA logo with less than three seconds on the shot clock to tie the game at 13.
“The ones that I made in the first half, I knew they were going in,” he said. “So that’s why I was so quick to shoot it.”
Beyond scoring, Gillespie controlled the game as a facilitator. He finished with nine assists, repeatedly creating easy opportunities for teammates, including a transition setup for DeWayne Brown that resulted in a dunk.
“I just seen DeWayne running on the left side,” Gillespie said. “The person that had to stop the ball, he stopped it. So I just gave it to DeWayne. I knew he was going to go dunk it.”
Brown said the moment was instinctive.
“I did not think twice about it,” Brown said. “When I caught it, I knew that I was going to try to dunk it no matter what.”
The freshman credited teammates and coaches for the confidence to attack in his first NCAA Tournament appearance.
“They always hype me up,” Brown said. “If they’re putting me on the floor, they want me to produce. So that’s what I got to do.”
Gillespie consistently created highlight moments for Tennessee’s frontcourt. A few moments before Brown’s dunk was another. After JP Estrella deflected a pass near midcourt, Gillespie tracked down the loose ball and tossed a lob that Estrella finished for a dunk, it extended the lead to 28-17.
Freshman Nate Ament said Gillespie’s performance came as no surprise, pointing to what he has seen in practice.
“He just commands so much attention on offense, and he is a really good passer,” Ament said. “It’s things I’ve seen every day in practice. It’s just great to see him put it together, scoring and getting all these assists.”
Gillespie’s ability to balance scoring with playmaking has been a point of emphasis under coach Rick Barnes.
“I think just practice,” Gillespie said. “Coach Barnes, he’s been really hard on me about that. So yeah, just working on it every day and my teammates helping me.”
After Miami opened the game hitting tough shots, Gillespie said Tennessee responded with more urgency, particularly on defense.
“I think it kind of woke us up early to have more urgency on defense,” he said.
Despite the lopsided result, Gillespie kept the focus on what’s next as Tennessee advances.
“It feels good,” he said. “But we got another one Sunday, so we got to lock back in.”
The performance provided a glimpse of Tennessee’s ceiling when Gillespie is in rhythm, a combination of shot-making and control that could prove critical as the tournament continues.
