LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team held a 14-point second-half lead Saturday night on the road at Rupp Arena, but fell short down the stretch in a 74-71 setback to Kentucky.
Freshman forward Nate Ament paced all scorers for No. 25/RV Tennessee (16-7, 6-4 SEC) with a career-high-tying 29 points, 19 of which came before the intermission, as the team’s four-game winning streak came to an end.
Following sluggish starts both ways, the Volunteers went on a 14-4 run over 2:43, connecting on five consecutive field goals, including four from long range. The first 11 points all came from Ament, who opened the surge with a personal 8-0 burst in 79 seconds. That push helped Tennessee claim a 28-18 lead with 7:06 on the first-half timer, at which time it was 6-of-10 from deep while forcing misses on all six Kentucky (17-7, 8-3 SEC) attempts at the other end.
The Wildcats scored the next four points, but the visitors scored eight of the next 10 to go in front by 11, 36-25, with 4:04 to go in the session. Tennessee hit two more 3-pointers during that stretch, making it an 8-of-13 opening that included a fourth consecutive long-range make from Ament to already tie his career high.
Kentucky again scored the next four points, but this time Tennessee—amidst a period of six straight made field goals—countered with a 7-0 run in 63 seconds, with the last five points from Ament. That made it 43-30 with 1:45 left in the session and the lead ultimately reached a game-best 14, 47-33, at halftime.
The Tennessee offense went stagnant early in the second half, missing 10 straight field-goal attempts and not scoring for 5:37. Kentucky turned that into an 8-0 run over 4:52 that helped it trim the deficit all the way to two, 57-55, with 9:32 remaining. The Wildcats went ahead, 61-60, with 6:18 to go, marking their first advantage since it was 8-7.
However, the Volunteers responded with five straight points in 37 seconds, including a three-point play by Ament, to claim a 65-61 edge with 5:23 to go. Kentucky got the margin back down to one, 65-64, just 1:43 later and then Ament hit two free throws with 2:31 left to make it a three-point game again.
The Wildcats scored the next four points and went ahead, 68-67, with 1:27 on the clock. At the other end, Ament snapped a drought of 4:24 without a Tennessee field goal on a go-ahead layup with 59 ticks to play. Kentucky sophomore guard Collin Chandler answered with a 3-pointer to give the home team a 71-69 lead with 33 seconds left. Just 19 ticks after that, following a miss by Tennessee, the Wildcats increased the lead to three by splitting a pair of free throws.
Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella hit two free throws with 8.1 to go, cutting the deficit to one, but senior guard Denzel Abderdeen knocked down two at the other end just 4.4 ticks later to push the margin back to three.
Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s ensuing half-court shot rattled in and out, giving Kentucky the comeback win on its home floor.
Ament’s co-career-best point total came on a 10-of-17 clip from the field, including a 4-of-6 mark from deep, as he also matched his top count in field-goal and 3-point makes. He added eight rebounds, three assists and one steal to his stellar ledger. The Manassas, Va., native scored the most points by a visiting freshman at Kentucky since Feb. 24, 1990, per Jared Berson.
Gillespie finished with 15 points, 14 of which came in the opening half, to go along with a game-leading four assists. Estrella notched 11 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore guard Bishop Boswell had 10 points, eight boards and a game-best three steals.
Freshman forward DeWayne Brown II grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and tallied a game-best three blocks, the latter mark a career high. His 12 boards tied for the third-most by a Tennessee freshman in SEC play over the last 20 seasons (2006-26).
Senior guard Otega Oweh paced the Wildcats with 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting, while Aberdeen had 16 points and freshman center Malachi Moreno had 10.
The Volunteers led for 34:30 and trailed for only 4:41, but went 6-of-30 from the field in the second half, including missing all six of their 3-point tries. They also had a 19-8 edge on the offensive glass in the contest, but Kentucky finished with a 14-12 edge in second-chance points.
Tennessee returns to the court Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET in Starkville, Miss., where it squares off with Mississippi State, live on ESPN2 from Humphrey Coliseum. Vol Network coverage on 103.1FM WIKQ begins at 8:30pm.
