In Elite Eight defeat, Tennessee basketball gets glimpse of future
DETROIT — It wasn't the position J.P. Estrella expected to find himself in.
With Tennessee within reach of its first ever Final Four, the 6-foot-11 freshman forward checked in after the Vols' top two bigs in Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka got into early foul trouble.
The fouls didn't stop and neither did Rick Barnes' decisions to call Estrella off of the bench in an Elite Eight clash with 1-seed Purdue with everything on the line at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday.
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It wasn't that Estrella was just seeing valuable minutes on the biggest stage of 2-seed Tennessee's historic season, it was that he was getting those minutes against the reining Naismith Player of the Year in 7-4 center Zach Edey.
In the end, Edey was too much, finishing with a career-high 40 points and 16 rebounds en route to a 72-66 win that sent the Boilermakers to the Final Four instead, but even in defeat Estrella provided more than a glimmer of hope for next season.
"(Estrella) got a chance to play more than he's played," Barnes said. "I'm sitting here thinking now maybe we ought to try to use him like Zach Edey because he showed his physicality. We thought that about him. I don't think he's ever seen himself as that kind of player...The fact is he went in there and battled against Player of the Year in college basketball. It's a great experience. I think going forward he definitely understands what it's about."
Estrella played 15 minutes, a career-high and more than Aidoo and Awaka played in the loss. Aidoo turned in 10 but sat much of the second half with four fouls while Awaka fouled out with more than five minutes left.
Estrella replaced Awaka and didn't leave the floor until the final buzzer. He grabbed a defensive rebound and was there to disrupt a couple of Edey's shots. On the offensive end, he helped set up scores and scored one of his own on a game-tying dunk with five minutes, 42 seconds left.
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Estrella appreciated the moment.
He had a hand in keeping the Vols in it when at times they ooked on the cusp of letting the game slip away in the second half, but in a somber postgame locker room, perhaps unfairly, he put some of the blame on himself.
"It mean't a lot (to play in this game), but it wasn't good enough," Estrella said. "It was pretty cool being out there, but it wasn't cool losing. I just feel like I had to play better defense on Edey and I didn't get the job done. I just feel like I have to do better.
"I've just got be ready for next season. I've just got to use this offseason to prepare myself and just keep getting better and better everyday."
Jahmai Mashack could hardly think of next season in the moments following the loss.
He is one of a handful of key contributors that Tennessee will have back next season as a senior and will play alongside Estrella, who won't face many challenges harder than the one he faced Sunday.
Mashack saw the dividends going up against that challenge will pay for Estrella going forward.
"I just know that (Estrella) is going to be a great player, no matter what," Mashack said. "I'm going to make sure that he's OK because all he's thinking about is right now. He knows just as well as me and everybody in this locker room that he's going to be a great player."
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