'Sometimes shots just don't fall': Josiah-Jordan James stuck to the plan during shooting slump

Josiah-Jordan James stuck to the plan. Whether it was the first 12 games of Tennessee’s season, when the fifth-year wing was playing some of the best basketball of his career, or the eight games that followed, when James either wasn’t making shots or wasn’t taking shots.

“I mean, I always go back to trusting my work,” James said Saturday night. “When I’m playing poorly, playing well, my routine doesn’t change.”

The consistency paid off against Kentucky at Rupp Arena, when James scored a career-high 26 points to lead Tennessee to the 103-92 win. He finished 9-for-18 from the field, setting career highs in shots made and shots attempted, and was 4-for-9 from the 3-point line. 

It just happened that his career night came after one of the worst stretches he’s been through. 

In the first seven games of SEC play, James had scored just 21 points. He was just 9-for-38 from the floor and 1-for-18 from three. 

“I get in, I get my work in on a daily basis,” James said. “And, you know, sometimes shots just don’t fall. I’ve been playing basketball for 23 years, you go through ruts, you go through shooting slumps.”

“If I’m scoring the ball, if I’m not scoring the ball, the only thing I care about is winning”

Through the first 12 games, he was averaging 11.5 points per game, shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from the 3-point line. But after scoring eight points against Ole Miss on January 6, James wouldn’t score more than four points in a game for the next three weeks. 

He went to Lexington having scored just three points over his last three games and had taken just 11 shots over the last four. He had two points against South Carolina, was shut out at Vanderbilt and had one point against Alabama. 

He had three in the loss at Mississippi State, four at Georgia and three against Florida, going a combined 4-for-20 over the three games. He missed all nine of his 3-point attempts.

“The start of SEC play,” James said, “it was kind of kind of tough for me, but the biggest thing is just winning. If I’m scoring the ball, if I’m not scoring the ball, the only thing I care about is winning.”

James said he blames Tennessee’s two SEC losses — at Mississippi State and at home against South Carolina — on himself “just for my poor performance.”

But the Vols stayed behind him.

“My teammates and my coaches have had my back the whole way,” James said, “and we have each other’s back and I wouldn’t be able to have a performance like (Kentucky) without them.”

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee vs. LSU, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

He snapped out of his slump on Tennessee’s second possession Saturday night at Rupp, hitting a three from the top of the key. He made four shots in the first half, matching the total he had made over his last six games, and made five more in the second half. 

When Tennessee needed a big bucket, the ball always found James.

“I just kept seeing him shoot the ball and it just kept going in,” Zakai Zeigler said. “So I was like, ‘Hey, I’m going to keep feeding you, man.’ It was really great. That’s my boy and glad to see him have a great game like that.”

Rick Barnes didn’t predict a career high from James at Kentucky, but the head coach did say on Friday afternoon that he had no doubt scoring would “come back to him.”

“He’s been a huge part of this program from the time he walked on campus.” Barnes said Saturday, “… the last two days, we’ve had some really good work in practice. And Josiah got back to getting aggressive.”

James stuck to the plan, too.

“It’s always about the things you can control,” James said. “Being a good teammate, being a leader, something that I pride myself on. And thankfully shots were able to fall.”