Can Bowden duplicate Auburn game for Vols?
KNOXVILLE — Jordan Bowden fell down Saturday at Auburn after dunking in Tennessee’s “One Fly, We All Fly” pregame routine.
The Vols guard bounced back up, jumped into a huddle of teammates and then played his best game of the season.
“We are all really happy for him,” UT coach Rick Barnes said. “The way he carried himself (Saturday) might be the best he has done that in quite some time.”
The Carter High School product was the story for Tennessee – the senior breaking out after a season-long slump – until the Vols fumbled the game away.
Bowden scored a career-high 28 points in Tennessee’s 73-66 loss to No. 15 Auburn. He made a career-best nine field goals. He was 3-for-4 from 3-point range. He didn’t miss a shot – a field goal, a 3-pointer or a free throw – for the first 23 minutes.
“I think Jordan, he knows what he has to do,” Barnes said Monday. “He played, I think, by far his best all-around game that he’s played all year long. But like I said, he’s been good defensively all year.”
Now can Bowden repeat the performance for the final four regular-season games to make a push toward the postseason?
“It felt good seeing it go in the basket,”
Bowden said. “But I want to win. We are trying to play in March. I got to do anything I have to do to get the win.”
Tennessee (15-12, 7-7 SEC) begins the final two weeks of the regular season against Arkansas (17-10, 5-9) on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network). Bowden scored 16 points and had six rebounds in teams’ first meeting – an 82-61 Vols win on Feb. 11.
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman praised Bowden for his ability to score from all three levels, especially noting his physicality and length in attacking the rim.
“He annihilated us, too,” Musselman said. "I mean, we had no one to guard him either.”
Bowden has made at least two 3pointers in three of his past four games, including the Arkansas win. It’s a nice uptick in 3-point shooting for the senior, who is having the worst shooting season of his career.
Barnes has remained steadfast in his support of Bowden throughout the lengthy struggle. Barnes has praised Bowden’s defense consistently, especially for not letting missed shots affect how he guards.
“One thing, you have to give him credit for all year long, he’s played hard defensively,” Barnes said. “And I don’t think there’s any question, we talked about it a lot. He’s pressed at times trying to score the ball, as opposed to just playing and letting it happen.
“But we talk about the things we need at this point. He was the one guy that did it (Saturday).”
He did it well throughout. He had six assists to match his season-high. He didn’t miss from the free-throw line. He played good defense again.
But it’s a matter of doing it again for Bowden, who snapped into the two-way player that Tennessee has expected him to be all season.
“We need him to do that every night,” forward Yves Pons said. “We know he is capable of doing that. He just needs to be more consistent.”
Isaiah Joe returns for Arkansas
Guard Isaiah Joe returned for Arkansas on Saturday to lead the Razorbacks to a 78-68 win over Missouri.
The sophomore had not played in five games since having knee surgery. Arkansas lost all five games, including falling to Tennessee.
“It spreads the floor because he is going to shoot it deep, and he has great range,” Barnes said of Joe’s return. “They have given him the ultimate green light to get shots, and they work to get him shots. They will be a different team there than they were here.”
Joe scored 21 points and made five 3pointers in his first game back. He is averaging 16.2 points per game.