Tennessee basketball looked like it didn’t want to win for the first 20 minutes on Tuesday. Then, a switch flipped.
A strong second half guided the Vols to a double-digit win over Ole Miss, 84-66, at Food City Center. Tennessee (16-6, 6-3 SEC) extended its winning streak to four games.
Nate Ament posted a game-high 28 points, inflated by a 26-point second half. After a weak first half where he scored a lone layup, the star freshman shot 8-for-10 in the second half as the driving force for the Vols.
Ole Miss (11-11, 3-6) shot 42% for the game. AJ Storr sprinkled in 15 points for the Rebels.
Vols make life tough at rim in first half
Tennessee shot 1-for-6 on layups and 0-for-1 on dunks across the first 20 minutes. Conversely, it held Ole Miss to shooting 1-for-4 on layups and kept the Rebels dunkless during the frame.
With 3:45 left in the first half, Tennessee mustered a 16% shooting percentage on shots at the rim. It was shooting 1-for-5 on layups, and 0-for-1 on dunks — a block at the rim on a J.P. Estrella attempt.
At the same point, the Vols were just 1-for-10 from the floor and went without a point for 2:37 of action. It allowed Ole Miss to linger with a one-point deficit at the under-four media timeout.
A Ja’Kobi Gillespie deep 3-pointer broke a 3:30 scoring drought, giving Tennessee a 26-20 lead.
Under two minutes remained, and Estrella struggled with a missed floater, followed by a missed tip-in on his own offensive rebound.
As the buzzer sounded, the Vols took to the locker room with a 2:36-minute scoring drought, making one of their final 12 shots. Tennessee shot 33% from the floor in the first half, holding Ole Miss to 31%.
Tennessee’s first paint touch of the second half went for an and-one after DeWayne Brown II picked up an offensive board, putting it back through contact while converting the 3-point play.
The Vols finished the game 5-for-13 on layups.
Ament turns corner in second half
Tennessee’s most aggressive driver failed to play to his strengths against Ole Miss.
Ament’s only first-half bucket came on a tough drive, but the 6-foot-10, 207-pound forward could not find a driving lane otherwise. Ament posted a 1-for-5 shooting performance, including a 0-for-2 stride from deep, without drawing a foul in his first 15 minutes of action.
Ament’s first second-half touch came corralling the offensive rebound, putting a shot back up and drilling it. His next bucket came on a tough fadeaway mid-range shot with the shot clock expiring. He added a second theatrical make with the clock expiring later in the half, coming on a jab-step 3-pointer.
He drew his first foul of the game on a drive with 12 minutes remaining, taking to the free-throw line for the first time. He sank both. Ament earned an and-one opportunity with eight minutes left, bringing his point total to 14.
Ament continued to sprinkle in basket after basket, bringing his point total to 28 by the time the final buzzer sounded. He shot 8-for-10 from the free-throw line, all coming in the second half.
Chris Beard ejected
With 6:15 left in the game, Ole Miss’s leader found the exit.
Rebels head coach Chris Beard was furious with a no-call and took his anger out on the referees. He ran out near midcourt, voicing his displeasure.
After review, the referees assessed a double-technical on Beard, and he wandered to the Ole Miss locker room.
Tennessee outscored Ole Miss 16-15 over the final six minutes of the game.
The Vols will be back in action in Rupp Arena against Kentucky on Feb. 7.
