KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team used a dominant second half to collect an 84-66 victory Tuesday night over Ole Miss at Food City Center, its fourth straight win.
Despite playing without seniors Amaree Abram (illness) and Felix Okpara (injury), No. 25/RV Tennessee (16-6, 6-3 SEC) trailed for just 78 seconds and built a lead as high as 27. Freshman forward Nate Ament led all scorers with 28 points in the triumph, 26 of which he poured in after halftime.
The Volunteers used an early 9-0 run, over just 1:52, to claim a 12-5 advantage after just 5:29 of play, with redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella scoring half their points on 3-of-3 shooting, including hitting a pair of putbacks. Tennessee upped the edge to nine, 18-9, at the 12:18 mark after five consecutive made field goals, three of which came from beyond the arc.
Ole Miss (11-12, 3-6 SEC) countered with eight points in a row over 2:25 to trim the margin to one, 18-17, with 9:21 left in the stanza. Tennessee upped it back to six, but then gave up the last five points of the half to make it 26-25 at the intermission.
Although the Volunteers followed their 7-of-11 start from the field with a 2-of-16 stretch that included six straight misses over 6:30, they did not concede the lead. Neither side made greater than a third of its first-half field goals, but Tennessee shot 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from deep and allowed just a 31.3 percent (5-of-16) ledger at the other end, plus had an 8-2 cushion in fast-break points.
The home team steadily increased its lead throughout the second half until reached 13 points, 55-42, on a second-chance 3-pointer by Ament with 9:25 remaining. That long-range make came during a stretch of 3:23 in which Tennessee held the Rebels without a made field goal.
Ole Miss twice pulled within 10, but Tennessee used a 7-1 run—it featured five points from Ament—in just 43 seconds to claim a then-game-best 16-point lead, 65-49, with 7:06 to play. The teams split the next four points, after which Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard received two technical fouls and got ejected. That led to a six-point possession for Tennessee—three points at the line from senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and a three-point play by Ament—to stretch the advantage to 22, 73-51, with 5:54 to go.
The Volunteers, though, were not done yet. After an Ole Miss free throw, Ament drilled a 3-pointer—the team’s sixth straight made field goal—and then freshman guard Amari Evans hit two free throws, after which Ament hit one more to make it a 14-1 spurt in 2:13 to put Tennessee ahead by 27, 79-52, with 4:27 left.
The lead remained 23 with under two minutes to go, but the Rebels—they made their last four field goals and final three free throws—logged seven of the last nine points to make it an 18-point decision.
Ament added six rebounds and four assists, the latter his most in an SEC game, to go along with the second-highest point total of his career. He made his first seven attempts from both the field and the line in the second half, en route to finishing 8-of-10 in both areas in the second session.
The 26 second-half points for Ament marked the most by a Tennessee player in any frame in nearly two years, since Feb. 28, 2024.
Gillespie, who went 5-of-10 from 3-point range, gave the Volunteers a pair of 20-point scorers, as he had that exact count. He reached that number for the 11th time this season.
Estrella totaled 12 points and a game-best nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Bishop Boswell stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds, a game-high five assists and a game-best three steals. The assists mark set a new personal best in SEC play and put him one shy of his overall top tally, while the steals figure tied his career high.
Freshman guard Patton Pinkins and senior guard A.J. Storr co-led Ole Miss with 15 points apiece. Senior guard Ilias Kamardine chipped in 11 points, while sophomore guard Eduardo Klafke added 10.
The Volunteers’ 58 second-half points marked their third-most in any frame in the 11-year tenure of Rick Barnes, who reclaimed sole possession of first place on the active wins list (min. 10 years in Division I) with the 852nd victory of his career.
Tennessee shot 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the field, 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from deep and 73.1 percent (19-of-26) at the line in the final 20 minutes. It also finished the game with a 16-6 margin in fast-break points and an 18-9 tally in points off turnovers, despite committing just one fewer (eight) than it forced (nine).
The Volunteers now head to Lexington, Ky., where they meet Kentucky at Rupp Arena, with action slated for Saturday at 8:30 p.m., live on ESPN. Listen on the Vol Network, 103.1FM WIKQ beginning at 8pm.
