LAS VEGAS — Nate Ament grabbed the rebound off a missed Rutgers free throw and brought the ball up the court at MGM Grand Garden Arena with authority.
When a defender picked him up at half court, Ament put his head down and blew past him to the paint. The 6-foot-10 five-star freshman rose for a short jumper as another defender met him to contest. But nothing was stopping Ament from scoring.
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His shot bounced in off the glass for the forward’s first points of the game with 10:27 left in the first half. It was just the beginning of his day in No. 16 Tennessee’s 85-60 win over Rutgers (4-2) to open the Players Era Festival on Nov. 24.
Ament flashed an elite offensive skill set, from hitting tough, contested jumpers to a smooth, pull-up 3-point shot. He scored 17 of his 20 points for the Vols (6-0) in the last 10 minutes of the first half, shooting 6-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 on 3-pointers.
Senior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie got on Ament early in the game for passing up an open 3-pointer, and Ament took it to heart.
“My coaches and everyone was telling me just to wake up. It’s time to go, let’s get into attack mode. I was just kind of listening to them,” Ament said. “(Gillespie) was just telling me to shoot it, be confident. When your point guard’s telling you to do that, you’re going to listen.”
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It hasn’t been easy for the highest-rated recruit in program history to find the balance between letting the game come to him and knowing when he has to be assertive. There were times Ament pressed too hard early in the game; Tennessee coach Rick Barnes chalked it up to Ament being a competitive player who wants to make something happen for his team.
“It’s been very tough, actually,” Ament said. “Just learning the game, learning how I can attack, when to attack, when not to, when to get the ball in my hands.”
It has never been in question what he is capable of. It’s just a matter of discerning when and how to be most effective. Ament said he wants to find teammates for open shots to get the offense into a rhythm early in the game. Later in the shot clock or the game, when plays break down or the defense is guarding them better, that’s when Ament sees his opportunities to push.
Barnes said Ament has learned something every game, in particular consistency with his 3-point shot, going 6-for-12 the past two games. Once Ament hit his first 3-pointer against Rutgers, Barnes could sense that he had stopped overthinking and just started playing.
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Tennessee was in control even before Ament started scoring, fueled by Gillespie’s career-high 32 points, but it didn’t break the game open until Ament became more aggressive. The two showed just how dominant of a duo they can be as the Vols scored 56 points in the first half, the most in a first half since Dec. 21, 2020.
Ament finished his first-half scoring with one of his most impressive plays of the day, driving in from the wing, a defender hanging on his side. Ament paused near the free-throw line, pulling back to create separation before getting a step ahead of the defender, handling the physicality to get to a baseline jumper that he drew the foul on.
“He’s only going to get better and better, just understanding how people are guarding him, adjusting from game to game,” Barnes said. “He’ll be a different player six weeks from now because of his mindset.”
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Nate Ament proved when Tennessee basketball dismantled Rutgers
