What Josiah-Jordan James said after scoring a career-high 26 points in Tennessee's win at Rupp

It wasn’t just a slump. Josiah-Jordan James was ice cold the last month. He had scored just 21 points in the first six SEC games of the season.

He was 1-for-18 from the 3-point line during that span, had just three points over his previous three games and had not scored in double figures since December 21 against Tarleton State. 

But he picked the perfect time to go off. James scored a career-high 26 points to lead No. 5 Tennessee to a 103-92 win at No. 10 Kentucky Saturday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington. 

James went 9-for-18 from the field, career highs in both made shots and shots attempted, and was 4-for-9 from the 3-point line.

Here’s everything James said during his postgame press conference:

What it meant to him to score a career-high 26 points in Tennessee’s win at Rupp Arena

“It means the world. You know, coming to Tennessee, I took so many visits and I know what this rivalry means to us as a program and the University of Tennessee. There’s so much rich history between us. Ending it the way that I did tonight, the way that we were able to tonight, because 26 points doesn’t matter if you don’t come out with the win. So it was a full team effort, but it was great to go out that way in such a great arena.”

The importance of Tennessee getting more balanced on offense, other players helping carry the load alongside Dalton Knecht

“100%. Coach has been harping on that for the past three days, and I feel like in our preparation, we were able to kind of hone in on that. Just guys being aggressive, not only myself, but Santi, Zakai, Jonas, Jahmai, everybody who touches the floor. Just having that confidence and playing like that, aggressively on offense. has been big for us and it will be big for us moving forward.”

Beginning SEC play 1-of-18 from the three-point line over six games

“I mean, I always go back to trusting my work when I’m playing poorly, playing well. My routine doesn’t change. I get in, I get my work in on a daily basis and you know, sometimes shots just don’t fall. And I’ve been playing basketball for 23 years and, you know, you go through ruts, you go through shooting slumps, but it’s always about the things you can control. Being a good teammate, being a leader (is) something that I pride myself on and, you know, thankfully today shots were able to fall. The start of SEC play, it was kind of kind of tough for me, but, you know, for me, 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. So I blame those two losses on myself just for my poor performance. But my teammates and my coaches have had my back the whole way and, you know, we have each other’s back and I wouldn’t be able to have a performance like tonight without them.”

The spark provided by sophomore forward Tobe Awaka in the second half

“I told Tobe after it happened, I was like, ‘we’re not gonna lose this game.’ We’ve kind of been challenging Tobe to be that enforcer that we know he can be and that play really set it off for us. Just knowing that, you know, he has our back and I feel like if Tobe has your back, you can win World War III with him on your side. So it was really great to see and it shows that we’re not gonna back down from anybody.”

Zakai Zeigler being ready to play after Tuesday’s loss to South Carolina:

“A big fire. I feel like we all did. We all came out, coming in here trying to prove something. Prove that we’re better than the last game against South Carolina. And I feel like he set it off from the jump. I feel like we fought for 40 minutes and it really started with him on both ends of the floor.”

If there was a different vibe in Tennessee’s practices the last couple of days

“Definitely. The biggest thing was just, you know, we set out to accomplish a goal at the beginning of the season, which was to first win the SEC regular season. And we have two losses that realistically we shouldn’t have lost, but credit to those two teams that beat us. And it was just about, not being in your feelings when guys and coaches get on to you just because at the end of the day, all we wanna do is win. And just knowing that it comes from a place of love and a place of just competitiveness to wanna win. And that was the biggest thing. And I would say that the energy before today’s game was key and huge and everybody was just in the mindset of helping each other out, having each other’s back and wanting to win.”

Freshman Cameron Carr getting an opportunity in the first half throwing him a lob

“Yeah, I mean, he’s prepared as well as anybody. He’s a freshman. He hasn’t played much up until this point, but he’s an uber-talented player on both ends of the floor. I was so happy that he was able to get minutes. And it just shows that his basketball IQ, I know me as a freshman, I don’t even think I would’ve been in this game, but he’s just really talented. I’m proud of the way he’s worked and he’s such a good teammate. He’s so selfless and I’m really proud and happy for him that he was able to contribute to the win today.”

How good it felt for Tennessee to win in his last game at Rupp Arena

“It feels great. Like I said, I know the rivalry that we have with them is always good basketball. We’re gonna get the best out of each other and I’m happy that we were able to come out on top and I’m really proud of my teammates and my coaches.”

If he has seen Zakai Zeigler get on guys more over the last couple of days of practice

“Definitely. And he’s used choice words that I can’t use in front of you guys, but he’s been a really, really good vocal leader for us the last couple of days, and we know moving forward that we’re gonna have to have him and other guys step up in that way. Just to hold each other accountable, because Coach always says that the best teams are player-led teams and we want to be one of the best teams to do that. We have to be coachable and coach each other well.”

What it means to him and Santiago Vescovi to have three wins at Rupp Arena in their careers

“It means a lot. We talked about it beforehand, just finishing the job here. Obviously we have a long way to go, but just a lot of players come through here and a lot of players lose in here. And we’ve lost our fair share, but we’ve also won and I think we’ve won more than we’ve lost. And so, I mean, it just shows, first of all, how good a basketball players we are ’cause this is a hard place to play in, but just credit to our work ethic and you know, how far we’ve come.”