University of Tennessee Athletics
Wednesday, January 28
Athens, Ga.
7 PM ET
University of Tennessee
14-6,4-3SEC
86
at
85
Georgia
16-5,4-4SEC
1
2
OT 1
F
Tennessee
28
46
12
86
Georgia
34
40
11
85
Vols Notch 86-85 Overtime Triumph at Georgia for Barnes’ 850th Victory
January 28, 2026 | Men's Basketball
ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Tennessee men's basketball team logged its second road win in five days with an 86-65 overtime decision Wednesday night at Georgia.
Tennessee (14-6, 4-3 SEC) trailed by six at halftime at Stegeman Coliseum, but its stellar second-half shooting provided head coach Rick Barnes the 850th victory of his illustrious 39-year career. Senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie paced the victors with 21 points in his third straight 20-point performance.
After neither side led by greater than four in the opening 10 minutes, Georgia (16-5, 4-4 SEC) went on a 13-6 run over 4:02 to build a seven-point lead, 30-23, with 6:03 on the first-half clock. It was 6-of-12 from 3-point range at that time, including a 4-of-5 mark from sophomore forward Kanon Catchings, who already had 14 points.
The Volunteers, 74 seconds before the break, cut the margin to four, but Georgia junior guard Marcus Millender hit a floater to beat the halftime buzzer and make it 34-28 through 20 minutes. After a 5-of-8 start from the floor, Tennessee shot just 6-of-27 the rest of the stanza to close it at 11-of-35 (31.4 percent), including 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from deep. However, it grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and conceded only three, leading to a 14-0 edge in second-chance points.
Early in the second session, Tennessee went on a 19-10 run in 4:53 that included a trio of 3-pointers and six consecutive makes from the floor to pull ahead, 53-51, with 11:56 to go. The Volunteers extended the hot field-goal shooting to an 9-of-10 stretch, as they built a 66-60 edge with 6:51 left.
The advantage remained at six with fewer than four minutes to play, but Georgia scored five points in 38 seconds to cut the margin to one, 70-69, with 3:07 remaining. The two sides split the next six points, making it 73-72 with 1:08 on the clock.
Neither team scored until there were 19 seconds to play, when Gillespie added a point from the line, but the Millender made a layup with 3.4 left to tie it at 74, the first time the Volunteers did not lead since the 8:58 mark. Gillespie's runner at the other end rattled out, sending the game to overtime.
The two sides exchanged the first four points of the extra frame, but Tennessee—buoyed by a corner 3-pointer from freshman forward Nate Ament—tallied the next six to go up, 82-76, with 2:26 left. Georgia scored the next four to get within two at the 1:17 mark, but the Volunteers scored the ensuing three at the line to go up by five 24.5 ticks remaining.
Millender hit a 3-pointer with 16.8 seconds to go and senior forward Felix Okpara made one free throw 1.1 seconds later, putting Tennessee back up by three, 86-83. At the other end, Millender drove to the rim and made a layup in the final second, but it was not enough, as Tennessee earned the road result.
Gillespie, who shot 4-of-11 from 3-point range, added a game-best six assists to his team-leading point total. Ament notched 19 points, six rebounds and three assists, plus a 2-of-5 long-range ledger.
Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella tied the second-highest point total of his career with 17, five of which came in overtime. He went 8-of-12 from the field to tie for his second-most makes as a collegian. The Scarborough, Maine, native pulled down nine rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end.
Sophomore guard Bishop Boswell tied a career high with 13 points, finishing 2-of-3 from deep and 5-of-6 at the line. He grabbed 10 rebounds, one shy of his career best, to amass his second double-double.
Catchings led all scorers with 22 points for Georgia, but had just eight points and no 3-pointers in the final 31 minutes. He went 8-of-14 from the field and paced the Bulldogs with seven rebounds.
Millender scored 19 points on an 8-of-10 field-goal clip, adding a team-high four assists. Junior guard Jordan Ross chipped in 10 points for the home team.
Tennessee ended the night with a dominant 26-7 margin on the offensive glass, setting a new season best in offensive rebounds. Two Volunteers—Estrella and senior forward Felix Okpara—had as many individually as Georgia did as a team.
That success led to a 24-4 advantage in second-chance points to go along with a 39.1 percent (9-of-23) register from beyond the arc.
The Volunteers now return to Knoxville, Tenn., for their first game at Food City Center in two weeks, as they are slated to host Auburn in a Saturday night affair set for an 8:30 p.m. tipoff, live on ESPN.
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
• Barnes now owns 850 victories in his career, one shy of John Calipari for first among all active Division I head coaches and for ninth place all-time (min. 10 years in Division I).
• Barnes is just the 10th Division I coach all-time (min. 10 years in Division I) to amass 850 victories and the second active coach to do so.
• Saturday marked the 1,279th game of Barnes' career, tying him with Jerry Slocum for the eighth-most all-time (min. 10 years in Division I).
• Wednesday's game was initially scheduled to be played Tuesday night, but was delayed 24 hours due to inclement weather.
• Tennessee is now 101-62 all-time against Georgia, with the 101 wins its second-most versus any foe, trailing only its 132 against Vanderbilt.
• The Volunteers improved to 8-1 in their last nine outings against the Bulldogs, following a 2-9 stretch in the prior 11 meetings.
• Tennessee has now won three consecutive games in Athens, after dropping each of its previous six road affairs in the series.
• The Volunteers have now faced Georgia's Mike White 14 times, their fifth-most contests against any active head coach, and upped their record to 12-2, including to 4-0 during his tenure in Athens.
• Wednesday marked just the third 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, and a 79-73 road win at Alabama just four days ago.
• After not playing an overtime game since Nov. 24, 2022, the Volunteers have done so twice in their last four outings, as their Jan. 13 contest against Texas A&M went to double-overtime.
• Tennessee last won by one point on Feb. 4, 2020, when it posted a 69-68 home triumph versus Alabama.
• The Volunteers improved to 7-6 in overtime games in their 11 years under Barnes, who is now 36-40 in his career in such contests.
• The one-point win marked Tennessee's third under Barnes, who moved to 20-28 in such games in his career, including 3-6 with the Volunteers.
• Tennessee has logged double-digit offensive rebounds in 19 of 20 games this year, with 15-plus in 12 outings, 18-plus five times and 20-plus four times, now with a high of 26.
• The Volunteers have grabbed at least 35 total boards in 17 of 20 contests, with 42-plus in 11, 47-plus in eight and 50-plus in six, with a top tally of 60.
• Prior to Wednesday, Tennessee's highest offensive rebounding total of the season was 24 in a Jan. 13 double-overtime win against Texas A&M.
• Tennessee's plus-20 margin in second-chance points was a season best, eclipsing the plus-17 tally it had in that matchup with the Aggies.
• Before Estrella and Okpara both grabbed seven offensive rebounds Wednesday, the Volunteers had just one such occurrence all season, as Estrella recorded seven Dec. 30 versus South Carolina State.
• Estrella's 17 points and eight made field goals tied his Nov. 8 totals versus Northern Kentucky for his second-most as a collegian, trailing only the 23 and 11 he had, respectively, Nov. 12 against North Florida.
• Gillespie scored 20-plus points for the 24th time in his career, including the 10th this season and the third in a row.
• The 13 points for Boswell matched his Jan. 13 total against Texas A&M for his highest mark as a collegian.
• Boswell scored in double figures for the third time as a collegian, including the second in the last four games over the past 16 days, joining his showing Jan. 13 versus Texas A&M.
• Boswell also connected on multiple 3-pointers for the third time in his career, including the first in SEC play.
• After never reaching double-digit rebounds or recording a double-double in the first 41 outings of his career, Boswell has now achieved both feats twice in the last four games.
• Ament scored 17-plus points for the 11th time this season, hitting that number for the fifth game in a row.
Tennessee (14-6, 4-3 SEC) trailed by six at halftime at Stegeman Coliseum, but its stellar second-half shooting provided head coach Rick Barnes the 850th victory of his illustrious 39-year career. Senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie paced the victors with 21 points in his third straight 20-point performance.
After neither side led by greater than four in the opening 10 minutes, Georgia (16-5, 4-4 SEC) went on a 13-6 run over 4:02 to build a seven-point lead, 30-23, with 6:03 on the first-half clock. It was 6-of-12 from 3-point range at that time, including a 4-of-5 mark from sophomore forward Kanon Catchings, who already had 14 points.
The Volunteers, 74 seconds before the break, cut the margin to four, but Georgia junior guard Marcus Millender hit a floater to beat the halftime buzzer and make it 34-28 through 20 minutes. After a 5-of-8 start from the floor, Tennessee shot just 6-of-27 the rest of the stanza to close it at 11-of-35 (31.4 percent), including 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from deep. However, it grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and conceded only three, leading to a 14-0 edge in second-chance points.
Early in the second session, Tennessee went on a 19-10 run in 4:53 that included a trio of 3-pointers and six consecutive makes from the floor to pull ahead, 53-51, with 11:56 to go. The Volunteers extended the hot field-goal shooting to an 9-of-10 stretch, as they built a 66-60 edge with 6:51 left.
The advantage remained at six with fewer than four minutes to play, but Georgia scored five points in 38 seconds to cut the margin to one, 70-69, with 3:07 remaining. The two sides split the next six points, making it 73-72 with 1:08 on the clock.
Neither team scored until there were 19 seconds to play, when Gillespie added a point from the line, but the Millender made a layup with 3.4 left to tie it at 74, the first time the Volunteers did not lead since the 8:58 mark. Gillespie's runner at the other end rattled out, sending the game to overtime.
The two sides exchanged the first four points of the extra frame, but Tennessee—buoyed by a corner 3-pointer from freshman forward Nate Ament—tallied the next six to go up, 82-76, with 2:26 left. Georgia scored the next four to get within two at the 1:17 mark, but the Volunteers scored the ensuing three at the line to go up by five 24.5 ticks remaining.
Millender hit a 3-pointer with 16.8 seconds to go and senior forward Felix Okpara made one free throw 1.1 seconds later, putting Tennessee back up by three, 86-83. At the other end, Millender drove to the rim and made a layup in the final second, but it was not enough, as Tennessee earned the road result.
Gillespie, who shot 4-of-11 from 3-point range, added a game-best six assists to his team-leading point total. Ament notched 19 points, six rebounds and three assists, plus a 2-of-5 long-range ledger.
Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella tied the second-highest point total of his career with 17, five of which came in overtime. He went 8-of-12 from the field to tie for his second-most makes as a collegian. The Scarborough, Maine, native pulled down nine rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end.
Sophomore guard Bishop Boswell tied a career high with 13 points, finishing 2-of-3 from deep and 5-of-6 at the line. He grabbed 10 rebounds, one shy of his career best, to amass his second double-double.
Catchings led all scorers with 22 points for Georgia, but had just eight points and no 3-pointers in the final 31 minutes. He went 8-of-14 from the field and paced the Bulldogs with seven rebounds.
Millender scored 19 points on an 8-of-10 field-goal clip, adding a team-high four assists. Junior guard Jordan Ross chipped in 10 points for the home team.
Tennessee ended the night with a dominant 26-7 margin on the offensive glass, setting a new season best in offensive rebounds. Two Volunteers—Estrella and senior forward Felix Okpara—had as many individually as Georgia did as a team.
That success led to a 24-4 advantage in second-chance points to go along with a 39.1 percent (9-of-23) register from beyond the arc.
The Volunteers now return to Knoxville, Tenn., for their first game at Food City Center in two weeks, as they are slated to host Auburn in a Saturday night affair set for an 8:30 p.m. tipoff, live on ESPN.
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
• Barnes now owns 850 victories in his career, one shy of John Calipari for first among all active Division I head coaches and for ninth place all-time (min. 10 years in Division I).
• Barnes is just the 10th Division I coach all-time (min. 10 years in Division I) to amass 850 victories and the second active coach to do so.
• Saturday marked the 1,279th game of Barnes' career, tying him with Jerry Slocum for the eighth-most all-time (min. 10 years in Division I).
• Wednesday's game was initially scheduled to be played Tuesday night, but was delayed 24 hours due to inclement weather.
• Tennessee is now 101-62 all-time against Georgia, with the 101 wins its second-most versus any foe, trailing only its 132 against Vanderbilt.
• The Volunteers improved to 8-1 in their last nine outings against the Bulldogs, following a 2-9 stretch in the prior 11 meetings.
• Tennessee has now won three consecutive games in Athens, after dropping each of its previous six road affairs in the series.
• The Volunteers have now faced Georgia's Mike White 14 times, their fifth-most contests against any active head coach, and upped their record to 12-2, including to 4-0 during his tenure in Athens.
• Wednesday marked just the third 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, and a 79-73 road win at Alabama just four days ago.
• After not playing an overtime game since Nov. 24, 2022, the Volunteers have done so twice in their last four outings, as their Jan. 13 contest against Texas A&M went to double-overtime.
• Tennessee last won by one point on Feb. 4, 2020, when it posted a 69-68 home triumph versus Alabama.
• The Volunteers improved to 7-6 in overtime games in their 11 years under Barnes, who is now 36-40 in his career in such contests.
• The one-point win marked Tennessee's third under Barnes, who moved to 20-28 in such games in his career, including 3-6 with the Volunteers.
• Tennessee has logged double-digit offensive rebounds in 19 of 20 games this year, with 15-plus in 12 outings, 18-plus five times and 20-plus four times, now with a high of 26.
• The Volunteers have grabbed at least 35 total boards in 17 of 20 contests, with 42-plus in 11, 47-plus in eight and 50-plus in six, with a top tally of 60.
• Prior to Wednesday, Tennessee's highest offensive rebounding total of the season was 24 in a Jan. 13 double-overtime win against Texas A&M.
• Tennessee's plus-20 margin in second-chance points was a season best, eclipsing the plus-17 tally it had in that matchup with the Aggies.
• Before Estrella and Okpara both grabbed seven offensive rebounds Wednesday, the Volunteers had just one such occurrence all season, as Estrella recorded seven Dec. 30 versus South Carolina State.
• Estrella's 17 points and eight made field goals tied his Nov. 8 totals versus Northern Kentucky for his second-most as a collegian, trailing only the 23 and 11 he had, respectively, Nov. 12 against North Florida.
• Gillespie scored 20-plus points for the 24th time in his career, including the 10th this season and the third in a row.
• The 13 points for Boswell matched his Jan. 13 total against Texas A&M for his highest mark as a collegian.
• Boswell scored in double figures for the third time as a collegian, including the second in the last four games over the past 16 days, joining his showing Jan. 13 versus Texas A&M.
• Boswell also connected on multiple 3-pointers for the third time in his career, including the first in SEC play.
• After never reaching double-digit rebounds or recording a double-double in the first 41 outings of his career, Boswell has now achieved both feats twice in the last four games.
• Ament scored 17-plus points for the 11th time this season, hitting that number for the fifth game in a row.
Team Stats
UT
UG
FG%
.437
.508
3FG%
.391
.321
FT%
.600
.700
RB
52
27
TO
12
6
STL
3
5
Game Leaders
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballMBB | Rick Barnes Postgame vs. Georgia (1.28.26)
Thursday, January 29
MBB | J.P. Estrella Postgame vs. Georgia (1.28.26)
Thursday, January 29
MBB | Bishop Boswell Postgame vs. Georgia (1.28.26)
Thursday, January 29
MBB | Highlights: Tennessee 86, Georgia 85
Wednesday, January 28
