Tennessee Basketball assistant Amorrow Morgan on Friday afternoon said Ja’Kobi Gillespie was still settling in. A new transfer point guard still getting used to the new-look roster around him, one that features nine new players in total. 

“I would just say (it’s) him continuing to learn our system,” Morgan said, “and then also learning our guys.”

Gillespie looked well versed on Saturday afternoon, scoring 20 points, four assists and three rebounds in No. 18 Tennessee’s 95-56 win over Northern Kentucky at Food City Center. 

Five-star freshman Nate Ament starred alongside Gillespie with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Tennessee (2-0). JP Estrella had his first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench and Ethan Burg scored eight.

Northern Kentucky (0-1) got 14 from Donovan Day and 14 from Kael Robinson.

Gillespie hit a 3-pointer on the Tennessee’s second possession of the game and had two spurts of five straight points later in the first half. 

He scored in transition and hit another three midway through the half, with Tennessee on a game-changing 18-2 run over a span of 5:35, and later hit another three before dunking in transition to put the Vols up 15 with 7:15 left in the half. 

Vols went 10-for-18 from 3-point line in first half

Gillespie, the Maryland transfer and Greeneville, Tenn., native, struggled with his shot in his first two outings in a Tennessee uniform. 

He had 19 points in the exhibition loss to Duke on October 26, but needed 21 shots to get there. He went 5-for-21 from the field, including 3-for-13 from three. In the season-opening win over Mercer on Monday, he had eight points on 3-for-11 shooting, going 2-for-6 from three.

Ament picked up where Gillespie left off in the second half, scoring 15 of his 23 points after halftime.  He finished 6-for-12 from the field in the win, including 2-for-4 at the 3-point line and 9-for-10 at the foul line.

Tennessee went 12-for-28 at the 3-point line after going 7-for-17 in the 76-61 win over Mercer on Monday.

Up Next: No. 18 Tennessee vs. North Florida, Wednesday

Tennessee will host North Florida on Wednesday at Food City Center in a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network+. It’s the third of five straight home games to start the new season, ahead of Rice on Monday, November 17 (8:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network) and Tennessee State on Thursday, November 20 (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+). 

The Vols then go to Las Vegas for the Players Era Men’s Championship, opening against Rutgers on Monday, November 24 in a 1 p.m. ET start on TNT and HBO Max at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

No. 2 Houston is the opponent the following day, on Tuesday, November 25, in a 6 p.m. ET start on TNT and HBO Max. Tennessee will face a third opponent on either Wednesday or Thursday before returning home. 

Tennessee assistant coach Amorrow Morgan on Friday called the first three weeks of the schedule “critical” before the Vols go to Vegas.

“Just having so many new bodies, so many new faces, and just having a chance to learn,” Morgan said. ” … I think these next three weeks are going to be critical for us for sure.”