Tennessee basketball guard Bishop Boswell is tired of getting hit in the face.
The sophomore left the Vols’ home win against Texas on Jan. 6 after catching an elbow to the nose in the second half. Despite the pain, the former high school football receiver relishes physical matchups.
“I’m not soft,” he said.
The No. 21 Vols (11-4, 1-1 SEC) can expect more brutality as they head down south to face the defending national champion Florida Gators (10-5, 1-1) at Stephen O’Connell Center on Jan. 10 (12 p.m., ESPN).
Boswell admitted the team takes pride in their toughness.
“Of course we do,” he said. “That’s Tennessee basketball at its core, and we talk about it every game, how we know the other coaching staff are going to be telling their guys that they have to be physical because of the Tennessee teams before us. It’s our job to play to that standard.”
Associate coach Justin Gainey looks to hold the Vols to that ‘standard’ on each trip down the floor against the Gators.
“The physicality is going to come at you on every possession,” he said. “When that ball goes up, it’s going to be a battle. You can’t relax on one play, because that’s all they need to get that offensive rebound or that second shot. That’s a huge part of what they do, and they do it really well.”
Tennessee went 1-2 against Florida last season, including an 86-77 loss in the SEC championship game. While the Gators lost three players to the 2025 NBA Draft — Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard — plenty of key guys remained.
“The depth,” Gainey said about Florida’s frontcourt. “They have four of them they can roll in there. They all have experience, they’re older, they’ve been through the fire and won a national championship. Obviously they’re talented with (Thomas) Haugh and (Alex) Condon, Micah (Handlogten) and big Rueben (Chinyelu). They all bring different things to the table.”
Boswell is one of the only current Vols who played against the Gators in 2025.
“I think JP and Felix know,” he said. “I think they’ve been kind of talking to DeWayne (Brown) and some of the new guys we have inside about the level of physicality we have to play with.”
A win at Florida could boost Tennessee’s confidence early in SEC play. Not only would the Vols topple the reigning conference and national champions, but they’d also log their first road win. Tennessee is 0-2 in true road games with losses to Syracuse and No. 15 Arkansas.
“I told the guys yesterday, we’ve done a good job protecting home court, and obviously that’s a big thing for us, but we haven’t got a road win yet,” Boswell said. “We’ve gotten some neutral site wins, but not a road win yet, so I think that’s what we’re going to have to do if we want to win the SEC.”
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: [email protected]
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