#20/23 Vols Throttle Gardner-Webb, 94-52

Sunday, December 21

Knoxville, TN

3 PM ET

University of Tennessee

9-3,0-0SEC

Gardner-Webb

2-13,0-0Big South

Gardner-Webb

Tennessee

December 21, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)VIDEO: Rick Barnes Postgame VIDEO: DeWayne Brown II & J.P. Estrella Postgame VIDEO: Gardner-Webb Postgame Highlights

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men's basketball team build an advantage as high as 46 points Sunday afternoon in a 94-52 win over Gardner-Webb at Food City Center.

Senior guards Amaree Abram and Ja'Kobi Gillespie co-led all scorers for No. 20/23 Tennessee (9-3), as the Volunteers tied a program record with a 43rd consecutive non-conference home victory.

After Gardner-Webb (2-13) tallied the initial five points, Tennessee responded with 24 of the next 26 across 7:03 of action, taking full control of the contest. The burst ended with 17 straight points in just 4:17 to make the score 24-7 with 9:39 on the first-half clock.

Soon thereafter, the Volunteers went on a 22-5 run in 5:52, capped with 10 consecutive points in 2:37, to claim a 31-point edge, 48-17, with 80 seconds left in the session. The lead reached 33, 52-19, at the break behind a 22-of-38 (57.9 percent) ledger from the floor. The 19 points by the Runnin' Bulldogs marked the fewest conceded by Tennessee in a half since Jan. 21, 2025.

The Volunteers extended their margin up to 40 points, 64-24, on a putback layup by junior forward Jaylen Carey with 15:19 remaining. They last held a 40-point margin just over a year ago, on Dec. 17, 2024. The lead stretched to 46 on multiple occasions, first at 72-26 with 13:07 to go.

After a 10-of-38 start from the floor, Gardner-Webb made nine of its next 11 field-goal attempts to get its deficit just below 40, 87-38, with 6:49 left. The visitors never got any closer and Tennessee went on to finish with a final 42-point cushion for its 16th win by 40-plus in head coach Rick Barnes' 11-year tenure, including its 12th in the last six seasons (2020-26).

Abram's season-high-tying 15-point performance came on 6-of-7 shooting, as he made his first six attempts of the day and added a co-team-best three steals. Gillespie, meanwhile, dished out a season-best nine assists alongside his 15 points.

Carey totaled 12 points and six rebounds, while redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella had 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Troy Henderson scored a career-best nine points, finishing 3-of-5 from long range in the win. Freshman forward DeWayne Brown II led all players with a career-high 14 rebounds to tie the fifth-highest-total by a Volunteer in the Barnes era.

Ten different Tennessee players connected on multiple field-goal attempts and registered at least six points in the triumph.

Junior guard/forward Curtis Williams III paced the Runnin' Bulldogs with 14 points, despite Tennessee limiting him to 5-of-15 shooting, including to a 2-of-10 mark from deep. Redshirt junior forward D.J. Jefferson, a Volunteer from 2022-24, scored 13 points for Gardner-Webb. No other player on the roster had greater than six points.

Tennessee, which shot 38-of-71 (53.5 percent) from the floor and held Gardner-Webb to a 20-of-58 (34.5 percent) figure, compiled a 52-20 advantage in bench scoring and a 52-22 margin in paint points.
The Volunteers now have eight days off before returning to action Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. against South Carolina State, live on SEC Network from Food City Center.

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 845 victories in his career, regaining sole possession of first place among all active Division I head coaches and of sole ninth place all-time (min. 10 years in Division I).
• The Volunteers improved to 4-0 in their all-time series with Gardner-Webb, including 3-0 under Barnes' direction.
• Tennessee's three wins against Gardner-Webb in the Barnes era are all by 16-plus points and by an average of 27.7 points per game.
• The Volunteers have now beat the Runnin' Bulldogs in back-to-back seasons after facing each other just twice previously.
• Tennessee moved to 30-0 all-time against the Big South's current membership, including 12-0 under Barnes, who is 25-0 against such foes in his career.
• The Volunteers have now amassed 43 consecutive non-conference home wins, a streak that spans six seasons and dates to the 2020-21 season opener on Dec. 8, 2020.
• The Volunteers' 43 straight non-conference home victories match, per Elias Sports Bureau, the program record that was set from Dec. 7, 1940, to Dec. 10, 1949.
• As announced prior to tip-off, sophomore guard Ethan Burg, who appeared in each of the first 11 contests of the season, did not play due to an illness.
• Sunday's contest marked Tennessee's first game against a non-Power Five foe since Nov. 20, over a month ago.
• The Volunteers' 22 made field goals in the first half marked their most in a stanza this season, eclipsing the 20 they made before the break Nov. 8 versus Northern Kentucky.
• Gardner-Webb shot 7-of-28 (25.0 percent) in the opening 20 minutes, with the seven makes matching the second-fewest by a Tennessee foe in a half this season.
• Two Volunteers, Carey and Estrella, amassed plus-30 marks in the first half alone, both in 12 minutes of action.
• The last time Tennessee held its opponent below 20 points in a half was Jan. 21, 2025, when it limited No. 14 Mississippi State to just 16 before the break.
• Tennessee, which recorded its fifth 50-point of the half, has now scored 50-plus points in a half 20 times in the past three seasons (2023-26) after doing so 11 total times in the prior four years (2019-23).
• The Volunteers last held a 40-point lead and/or won by 40-plus points on Dec. 17, 2024, when they finished off a 48-point victory over Western Carolina, 84-36.
• Tennessee not only now has 16 victories by 40-plus in the Barnes era with 12 of them in the last six seasons (2020-26), but now also has seven such triumphs in the last four years (2022-26) alone.
• The 42-point margin of victory tied for the 10th-highest in any win across Barnes' tenure and marked the program's 12th time reaching that mark in his 11 years.
• Tennessee is now 105-9 (.921) when allowing 60 or fewer points under Barnes, including 48-3 (.941) when giving up 52 or fewer.
• Gardner-Webb became the second consecutive Tennessee foe to take 30-plus 3-pointers and make just seven, as Louisville went 7-of-34 from long range just five days ago.
• Three Tennessee players made their season debuts: sophomore guard Campbell Duncan, redshirt senior guard Grant Hurst and sophomore guard Gavin Paull.
• Freshman guard Clarence Massamba played a career-high 14:11, nearly doubling his prior high of 6:54 in a Nov. 20 game versus Tennessee State.
• Henderson finished with career highs in points (nine), made field goals (three) and made 3-pointers (three) after he tied his prior bests in all three categories—six, two and two, respectively—in the first half alone.
• Before recording 14 rebounds Sunday, Brown's career high was five, compiled on three different occasions.
• Brown's 14 rebounds tied for the fifth-most by any Volunteer in Barnes' tenure and marked the highest total since Igor Miličić Jr., had 18 on Jan. 4, 2025, versus Arkansas.
• Nine different Volunteers, including Brown, have combined to grab 14-plus rebounds 13 times in the Barnes era: Brown, Miličić (twice), Jonas Aidoo (twice), Josiah-Jordan James, Olivier Nkamhoua, Yves Pons, Kyle Alexander (twice), Grant Williams and Armani Moore (twice).
• Brown is the fourth Tennessee freshman in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) with 14 rebounds in a game—all had exactly that total—alongside Grant Williams (March 1, 2017, at LSU), Jarnell Stokes (March 3, 2012, against Vanderbilt) and Brian Williams (Dec. 15, 2007, versus Western Kentucky in Nashville, Tenn.).
• Gillespie's nine assists tied for the second-most of his career and set a new season best, surpassing his prior high of eight in a Nov. 17 game versus Rice.
• Abram's 15 points tied his Nov. 20 total versus Tennessee State for his season best, while the six made field goals surpassed his prior season high of four in that same contest.