James instantly impacts Vols in his return from latest setback

Whether Tennessee senior forward Josiah-Jordan James has played too much or too little this basketball season depends on the individual.

South Carolina freshman coach Lamont Paris has seen plenty of the 6-foot-6, 224-pounder, who scored 18 points in 21 minutes on Saturday night as the No. 11 Volunteers defeated the Gamecocks 85-45 in the Thompson -Blown up Boling Arena. James has only played 17 of 29 games during the 21-8 season in Tennessee, but he is 6 of 12 from 3-point range in two shots against South Carolina.

“I think he does everything when he plays us,” said Paris after suffering a second one-sided defeat against the Vols. “Sometimes a guy can have a matchup like that, and maybe it’s because he’s from the state of South Carolina. I don’t know what it is but he took a lot of shots and is a really good player. He’s one of those players who’s very skillful and takes shots but is also physically strong.

“He can play a lot of different ways and adapt to how a game is called, whether it’s tighter or a lot more physical than tonight.”

James has endured three bouts of multiple absences since November, with the first two being the result of knee pain stemming from an off-season procedure. His troubles seemed over when the former five-star Charleston signee played the first 11 games of this calendar year, but sprained his ankle in the second half of the Feb. 8 loss at Vanderbilt and missed the next four contests.

Just 14 seconds into Saturday’s game, James scored with the first of four 3-pointers.

“We’re all happy for Josiah and we know what he means to our program,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “He’s been great and his presence has such a big impact on the team because he’s been in so many big chances and big game situations and I think his presence takes a lot of the pressure off the lads.

“He gives his team-mates a sense of comfort and when he came on the pitch tonight he was great and played with great balance.”

The 18-point performance was James’ second-highest performance of the season, but one night against a recovery program doesn’t erase all the difficult times of the past few weeks.

“It was tough,” said James. “It’s my senior year and I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into my time here. I never imagined my senior year would be like this but everything happens for a reason and I still try to make the most of every day to get better even if it’s a limited work, that I can do.”

James admitted he’s not back to 100% but felt he could contribute something, which was welcomed by his teammates and Barnes as senior guard Tyreke Key (ankle) and freshman forward Julian Phillips (hip flexor) expose.

“He’s a big part of the lineup because we know what he brings to basketball games,” said sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler. “He doesn’t need the ball to score a lot of goals and you can be the best player without scoring. We know that plays a big role and if we have him that’s a big plus for us.”

James thanked everyone who spends time in Thompson-Boling for the support when he can’t keep up, and he explained how he combats the frustration of not being in the building.

“I still do my yoga,” James said. “It keeps me sane. I try to get at least one class in a day. My teammates see me doing it in the dressing room and I do it at home. My teammates come to my flat. We hang out. We chill. We watch movies. I actually have two cats now, Kiko and Simon, and they keep me busy, so I do a lot.”

Said Zeigler: “His cats kept me away from his apartment. I’m not a big cat guy.”

Tennessee plays its final home game of the season Tuesday night (9 on ESPN2) against Arkansas.

record routes

After Tennessee defeated South Carolina 85-42 and 85-45, the Vols became the first SEC team since the 1953-54 Kentucky Wildcats to win at least two league games by 40 points or more. Kentucky went 25-0 this season and had five such wins over Georgia Tech (twice), Tulane, Georgia and Florida.

The Vols set a single-season program record Saturday with their 12th triumph with 20 or more points.

bits and pieces

Zeigler had his fifth career game with double-digit points and assists, tying the program record set by Rodney Woods from 1972–75. … Tennessee’s four turnovers against the Gamecocks is the fewest of the Vols in the Barnes era that began with the 2015-16 season. … The Vols lead the nation with 12 games in which they’ve held their opponents to 50 points or fewer.

Contact David Paschall at [email protected].