A young star showed up for one of Tennessee basketball’s largest games of the year.
Freshman Nate Ament powered the Vols to a 79-73 win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa, exploding for a career evening in his first trip to Coleman Coliseum. Tennessee (13-6, 3-3 SEC) proved to be nine points better than the No. 17 Crimson Tide (13-6, 3-3) in the second half, outlasting an opponent on the road for the first time in league play this season.
Ament notched a career-best 29 points alongside seven rebounds and three assists. Ja’Kobi Gillespie had himself a 24-point night, adding four helpers and a pair of steals. The Vols did not feature another player in double figures.
Labaron Philon topped Alabama with 26 points and seven assists, while former NBA G League player Charles Bediako posted 13 points in his controversial return to college basketball.
Sluggish start
The Vols knew the importance of getting out to a clean start on the road would be imperative.
With the outside noise surrounding this matchup, Tennessee’s ability to weather things early on in enemy territory became all the more important. The Vols’ two-point advantage at the 18:44 mark of the first half turned out to be their only such cushion of the opening stanza.
Alabama’s high-octane offense, though shorthanded with the absence of scoring contributor Aden Holloway, demanded that Tennessee play strong defense to avoid a shootout scenario. The visitors’ defensive hopes took a bit of a dive when Bishop Boswell picked up two fouls in quick fashion, prompting head coach Rick Barnes to remove one of his top hard-nosed assets until the closing moments of the half.
The Crimson Tide’s lead ballooned to as much as 10 points in Boswell’s absence, running things through the paint with the help of a controversial addition. Bediako entered the game off the bench to a rousing ovation from the home faithful, converting for four consecutive points. The 6-foot-11 big man showed some prowess at the rack with two more dunks before heading to the halftime locker room, but a 7-0 Vols’ run got Tennessee in position to make things close at the break.
Shaky down low
Forecasted as one of Tennessee’s strengths before and in the early parts of the season, the Vols’ frontcourt didn’t live up to standard when starting things off against Alabama’s game plan.
The Crimson Tide controlled the painted area by a 26-14 margin on the scoreboard after the first 20 minutes, grabbing a slough of offensive boards in the opening minutes to help themselves out to their early lead. Tennessee continued to struggle with hitting easy shots at the rim. The Vols made just four of their nine first-half layup attempts, coming up short on open looks on some occasions.
Tennessee had to improve on this difference to find the win column.
Ament comes alive
After an up-and-down start to the campaign, the Vols’ blue-chip freshman keeps on improving.
Ament paced his guys with 11 points in the first half, but really found a groove out of the second half gate to reclaim Tennessee’s first lead since the infant stages of the action. His recent upward trend featured one of its best sequences. Ament’s aggressiveness and success from the midrange began to draw some extra attention from Alabama defenders, fighting for trips to the free-throw line thanks to a freeness with the basketball. A stroke from 3-point land that had been primarily absent worked its way into the limelight, in turn loosening up the scoring pressure on Gillespie.
Ament matched a career-high 23 points before the midway point of the final stanza, all while the two rivals traded the lead.
Vols gain enough ground
Ament’s 18-point second-half heater generated momentum that trickled down the Vols’ lineup.
A 6-0 Tennessee run before the six-minute mark grew its lead to seven points, but the Crimson Tide rolled back with a five-point swing of their own to close the gap to a possession. A trio of crucial rebounds from J.P. Estrella helped the Vols maintain possession as the final seconds melted away, forcing Alabama to foul to sustain any hope of overcoming its deficit.
Tennessee will stay on the road, heading to Athens for a meeting with Georgia on Jan. 27.
