A Moment of Energy and Impact

Nate Ament made a move that turned the game around. He caught the pass from Ja’Kobi Gillespie on the wing, tucked his shoulder, and drove left toward the baseline. With two Alabama forwards in his way, he took off just in front of the block, jumped high above the traffic, and made the shot through contact, drawing the foul.

On the way to the foul line, Ament flexed both arms, delivered a chest bump to Jaylen Carey, and slapped hands with Amari Evans after giving Tennessee a 50-47 lead with 15 minutes left. “I just wanted to turn up with my guys,” said Ament, not one to often show such emotion on the court. “Seeing the guys on the bench get all rowdy, I thought I’d give some energy back to them.”

In a badly needed 79-73 road win at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ament gave his team more of what he’s been giving the last two weeks: A career-high 29 points with seven rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes.

“I just really wanted to win that game coming off a tough loss against Kentucky,” Ament said. “And I mean, props to the Alabama team. They made us work for it every bucket, every stop.”

Key Moments in the Game

When Tennessee needed a bucket, the five-star freshman delivered. When the game was tied at 57 with 11 minutes left and Alabama’s Taylor Bol Bowen backing up, Ament shot pulled up and shot a deep three over the defender to give his team the lead.

“Coach Barnes put me in a position to isolate their guards,” Ament said. “My big men were on the back side and they were rebounding a lot. They really just trusted me to get a shot up.”

With the Vols up three with just under seven minutes left, Ament called for a screen and drove right, curling the ball under his right arm and fighting for space in the paint. He hit the contested jumper for a 68-63 lead.

He was back at the same spot on the floor with 5:33 to go and the Tennessee lead down to two. After backing down Alabama’s Houston Mallette, he turned over his right shoulder and hit another shot with a hand in his face, getting the lead back to four.

“He’s starting to understand how to attack space,” Barnes said, “and not to get himself in trouble by going too deep. He was terrific tonight.”

Building Confidence and Trust

“I know Coach Barnes and my team is going to get me to my spots where I want to shoot the ball,” Ament added. “And I just got to trust in them and I know I’ll get the shots I want.”

Ament’s performance this season has been nothing short of impressive. He scored 17 points on just seven shots against Kentucky last week. He carried Tennessee to a double-overtime win at home against Texas A&M by scoring 19 of his 23 points in the second half and overtime. He had 17 in the loss at Florida two weeks ago, to start the run that continued Saturday night.

“What he’s learning to do,” Barnes said, “as much as we try to adjust him to the physicality that he was going to see, it’s something that you have to live. And he’s lived it.”

The Road Ahead

Ament is starting to live up to the hype, too.

“I know that when expectations are high for a player, sometimes people get disappointed,” Barnes said. “But we are not one bit disappointed with what he’s done for us all year. He’s going keep getting better. It was just a matter of time to where you felt like he would get the flow, the confidence and the vision to see where and how he needed to attack.”

The next challenge for Tennessee will be facing No. 21 Georgia at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. With Ament leading the way, the Vols are looking to continue their strong performance and build momentum heading into the rest of the season.