It was a tale of two halves for Tennessee on Tuesday night in Knoxville. The first was a major struggle. The second was as free and fast as the wind. Tennessee turned a one-point halftime lead into a comfortable win, pulling away and winning by a decisive 84-66 final score. Nate Ament had an incredible […]
It was a tale of two halves for Tennessee on Tuesday night in Knoxville. The first was a major struggle. The second was as free and fast as the wind.
Tennessee turned a one-point halftime lead into a comfortable win, pulling away and winning by a decisive 84-66 final score.
Nate Ament had an incredible second half for the Vols. He had 26 of his 28 points after halftime, which totaled more than either team scored themselves in the first half, adding 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 20 points, going 5-10 from three.
The first half was an absolute slog. Tennessee gradually worked their way to an 18-9 lead around 8 minutes into the half, and the teams exchanged missed shots for most of the rest of the half. The broadcast noted that Tennessee was just 1/6 on layups in the half, which is abominable and something that Rick Barnes called out during his interview on the way to the locker room with a 26-25 lead.
But the Ament half of the season carried the Vols to victory in the second half. However, it took a little while for Tennessee to take over. The Vols pushed the lead to eight at 43-35, but a long three by Ole Miss’s AJ Storr brought the score back to 43-38.
But that’s where the game turned with one foul. Bishop Boswell drove the ball and dished to Jaylen Carey. Just after he released the ball, an Ole Miss player raised an elbow and clocked Boswell in the face. It was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant one. From that point, Tennessee rallied and stretched their lead out.
With the score 52-42, Ament put the dagger in – for all intents and purposes – with around 9 minutes left. With the shot clock running down, he shot faked, took a step away from the three-point line at the wing, and launched a long three that splashed and sent the crowd into a frenzy. The lead remained at double digits and grew to 21 with an Ament jumper with around 6 minutes left.
Oh, and Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard got tossed for a double technical after running on the court and screaming about, I guess, a foul that wasn’t called. He was escorted off the court to loud jeers from the Tennessee crowd.
Up next is a return matchup with Kentucky on Saturday night in Lexington. The importance of that one does not need to be emphasized.
Category: General Sports
