Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 15 of his team-high 22 points in the second half, including six free throws in the final 35 seconds, as No. 17 Tennessee upset third-ranked Houston 76-73 in the Players Era men’s tournament on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Jaylen Carey scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Bishop Boswell added 10 points for the Volunteers (7-0), who avenged a 69-50 loss to the Cougars in the Elite Eight last March.
Freshman Kingston Flemings scored a game-high 25 points and Milos Uzan added 17 points for Houston (6-1), which went almost 7 1/2 minutes without a point while missing 11 consecutive shots midway through the second half.
Houston got as close as 74-73 on a 3-pointer by Flemings with 5.3 seconds left but Gillespie, who was 9-for-9 at the line, answered with two free throws with 4.1 seconds left. Uzan then missed a shot from behind the half-court line to end the game.
Tennessee, which managed just 15 first-half points against Houston in that Elite Eight matchup, jumped out to a 11-10 lead in the first five minutes Tuesday with Gillespie hitting a 3-pointer to put the Vols in front.
Houston’s Emanuel Sharp spent the final 15:25 of the first half on the bench after picking up two fouls and finished with just eight points in the contest.
Houston, behind six points by Flemings, went on a 17-5 run to take a 27-16 lead and was up 37-28 with 3:06 to go after a floater by Uzan.
But Tennessee answered with a 7-0 run after that, highlighted by a 3-pointer by Amaree Abram to cut the lead to two, before Uzan scored on a drive to give the Cougars a 39-35 halftime lead.
Houston extended the lead to 46-41 early in the second half but Tennessee answered with a 10-0 run highlighted by back-to-back layups by J.P. Estrella to retake the lead. Uzan hit a pair of free throws to finally snap Houston’s scoring drought.
The Cougars cut the lead to 63-62 on a 3-pointer by Uzan, but Tennessee made it 66-62 on a free throw by Okpara followed by a tip-in by Carey when Okpara missed his second foul shot.
