KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team started its 2025-26 regular season campaign with a 76-61 win over Mercer.
Freshman forward Nate Ament, in his collegiate debut, paced a balanced scoring attack with a game-best 19 points for No. 18/17 Tennessee (1-0) at Food City Center, where the program is now 36-3 in home openers.
After a sluggish start, the Volunteers rattled off eight straight points in 2:18 to jumpstart an extended 21-6 surge over 8:50 to take a 25-14 lead with 5:31 on the first-half time. They held Mercer (0-1) without a made field goal for a span of 7:14, forcing eight consecutive misses from the floor.
Tennessee pushed its margin as high as 14 in the opening half and took a 12-point edge, 33-21, into the locker room. It limited the Bears to just 21.2 percent (7-of-33) shooting in the opening 20 minutes, including a 5.9 percent (1-of-17) clip from beyond the arc. At the other end, the home team shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) and rebounded eight of its 15 misses, with five by junior forward Jaylen Carey.
The Volunteers continued their strong defense in the second half, holding Mercer without a made field goal for 4:10, as the visitors missed five attempts in a row. A 7-0 run in 80 seconds during that stretch pushed the margin to a then-game-high 19 points, 46-27, with 15:13 to go.
Tennessee extended its lead up to 23, but Mercer then stopped its 3-point skid, hitting three in a row after a 2-of-25 start. Two of those came during a 10-2 run in 1:45 that helped the Bears trim their deficit to a baker’s dozen, 62-49, with 5:40 on the timer.
Mercer never got any closer the rest of the way and the Volunteers extended the advantage as high as 19 before finishing with a 15-point decision.
In addition to leading all scorers, Ament pulled down nine rebounds to finish one shy of notching a double-double. The Manassas, Va., native shot 6-of-11 from the field.
Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella totaled a career-high 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting in his return to action after missing the final 35 games of last season with a left foot injury. He also grabbed five rebounds to tie a career best.
Junior forward Jaylen Carey had eight points and a game-leading 10 rebounds in his first action as a Volunteer. Fellow Tennessee newcomer Ja’Kobi Gillespie, a senior guard, matched Carey’s point total and paced all players with six assists, one fewer than Mercer’s entire total.
Junior guard Baraka Okojie led the Bears with 15 points despite shooting 3-of-13 from the field, as he made all eight of his free-throw attempts. Redshirt junior center Armani Mighty scored 14 points and graduate guard Zaire Williams added 10 before fouling out.
Despite making its final four 3-point attempts of the night, Mercer finished with a 20.7 percent (6-of-29) ledger from beyond the arc. It also logged just a 29.9 percent (20-of-67) mark from the field despite hitting eight of its last 15 tries.
The Volunteers finished with a commanding 54-32 edge in the rebounding column, as well as a 44-22 tally in paint points and a 32-14 count in bench points. The 54 rebounds marked the team’s highest total Dec. 7, 2022.
Tennessee continues play Saturday at 3 p.m. when it hosts Northern Kentucky, live on SEC Network+ from Food City Center.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
