TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team rallied back from an early 10-point deficit to register a top-20 road victory Saturday night, knocking off No. 17 Alabama, 79-73, at Coleman Coliseum.
Freshman forward Nate Ament produced a career- and game-high 29 points for Tennessee (13-6, 3-3 SEC) in its fifth consecutive series triumph.
Alabama (13-6, 3-3 SEC) rebounded each of its first five misses, leading to an 8-2 edge in second-chance points after just 4:15 of action. The strong start on the offensive glass helped the Crimson Tide build a game-best 10-point lead, 22-12, with 9:38 left in the half, at which time graduate guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr., already had 11 points.
The Volunteers responded with a 10-2 run over 2:06—it featured the team’s first two 3-point makes of the night and seven straight points in 60 seconds—to pull within two, 24-22, just two-and-a-half minutes later. The two sides played nearly evenly the rest of the session and Alabama, which got just two offensive boards in the final 15 minutes of the frame, took a 39-36 advantage into the break.
Tennessee scored the first four points of the second half to claim a 40-39 advantage with 18:24 remaining, its first lead since the score was 4-2. After an Alabama basket, the Volunteers scored seven straight points in 76 seconds to go up by six, 47-41, with 16:33 on the timer.
The Crimson Tide responded with nine of the next 12 points to pull level at 50 with 14:34 to go, during a stretch in which it made five field goals in a row. The home team regained the lead, 62-60, on a three-point play by senior center Charles Bediako with 9:55 to play. Tennessee went back in front just 96 seconds after that and pushed the margin to a game-high seven, 70-63, with 6:34 remaining after scoring six consecutive points in 60 seconds.
Alabama scored five points in a row to make it 70-68 just 48 ticks later, but Tennessee countered with seven of the next nine to again go up by seven, 77-70, with 4:08 to play. Sophomore forward Aiden Sherrell connected on a 3-pointer to make it a four-point game 57 seconds later and then neither team scored for nearly three minutes.
Sophomore guard Bishop Boswell hit a free throw with 19 seconds to go, senior forward Felix Okpara blocked a 3-pointer at the other end and then senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie added another free throw with 7.8 ticks on the clock to close it out. Alabama scored just three points in the final 5:10 on its home court.
Ament’s 29 points came on 10-of-20 field-goal shooting, with his 10 makes a career high. He became the first Tennessee freshman to score 29-plus points since Feb. 10, 2021, and the first to make double-digit field goals since Dec. 4, 2021. Ament shot 2-of-3 from deep and 7-of-9 at the line, too.
The Manassas, Va., native, who scored 18 of his points in the second half, added seven rebounds and three assists, while committing just one turnover in 38 minutes of action. Ament became just the sixth SEC freshman—seventh occurrence—in the last 20 seasons to post 29 points, seven boards and three assists in a game, joining Tre Johnson, Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Ben Simmons (twice) and Terrence Jones. He is the first of the group to achieve the feat on the road against a ranked team and just the first freshman from any Division I league to do that since Chase Budinger on Feb. 10, 2007.
Gillespie accumulated 24 points in the win, his ninth time scoring 20-plus this season. He had four assists, three rebounds and two steals, as well as committed just two giveaways in 38 minutes of court time.
Sophomore guard Labaron Philon Jr., led the Crimson Tide with 26 points and added a game-high seven assists. Tennessee held him to a 7-of-20 clip from the field, including a 2-of-9 mark beyond the arc, but he went 10-of-11 at the free-throw line.
After his hot start, Wrightsell finished with 14 points, as the Volunteers limited him to just three in the final 29-plus minutes. Bediako, playing in his first collegiate game since March 24, 2023, totaled 13 points on a 5-of-6 field-goal clip.
Tennessee allowed just three offensive rebounds in the second half, as Alabama ended the night with 10, half of which came in the opening four-plus minutes.
The Volunteers shot 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the floor, including 33.3 percent (6-of-18) on 3-pointers. Both teams had the same amount of long-range makes, but the Crimson Tide had a 23.1 percent (6-of-26) register. The six 3-point makes were Alabama’s fewest since March 21, 2025.
