The Tennessee Volunteers are undefeated this basketball season when Nate Ament doesn’t play, but they obviously would prefer to have the standout freshman on the floor.
Ament missed a game for the first time in his Tennessee career Tuesday night, when the No. 23 Vols repeatedly pounded the ball inside to extend South Carolina’s struggles with a 78-59 victory in Columbia. The 6-foot-10, 207-pound forward from Manassas, Virginia, was ruled out Monday night due to the right knee injury he sustained during the first half of Saturday’s 71-69 loss to visiting Alabama.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was asked in a press conference following Tuesday’s win whether this time off could actually do Ament some good.
“I think it can,” Barnes said. “He’s had a long year, and I’ve said before that I don’t think anybody has gotten beat up in college basketball as much as Nate Ament has this year. He’s never complained about it one time.
“I’m the one who’s complained about it, because I think it’s real.”
The Vols, who improved to 21-9 overall and to 11-6 in Southeastern Conference play, scored 56 points in the paint against the Gamecocks (12-18, 3-14) and threw down 15 dunks, with redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella collecting 22 points and senior forward and former Hamilton Heights standout Felix Okpara adding 20.
Barnes was pleased with Tennessee’s performance and added to the mood with a positive update on Ament.
“If it were up to Nate, then Nate would have played today,” Barnes said, “but obviously the right decision was not to play him. If you ask him, it’s more of a high-ankle sprain than the knee. I think the knee is fine, at least that’s what I think from talking to him.”
Ament injured his ankle during the 73-69 loss at Missouri on Feb. 24, and Barnes said following Saturday’s setback to the Crimson Tide that the five-star signee injured his knee while reaggravating his ankle.
In his 29 games this season, Ament has averaged 17.4 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds. Before last Saturday’s injury, he was enjoying a 13-game stretch in which he was averaging 21.6 points per contest, amassing 29 points on three occasions.
“I would like to think that this can be a blessing in disguise,” Barnes said. “If it were up to him, he would have played. If this was our last game of the year, he would have played.”
The Vols close out their regular season when No. 24 Vanderbilt (23-7, 10-7 SEC) visits the Food City Center on Saturday (2 p.m. on ESPN).
Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee would earn the four double-byes into the quarterfinals of next week’s league tournament if the season ended today, but the Vols are just one game ahead of Kentucky, Missouri, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt in the conference standings. Kentucky and Missouri have head-to-head tiebreaker advantages over Tennessee should those teams wind up deadlocked.
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A pair of fellow first-year Vols, freshman guard Amari Evans and sophomore guard Ethan Burg, stepped up the most in Ament’s absence by combining for 50 minutes, 15 points and six steals. Evans received his first start of the season.
“We’ve got depth,” Burg told reporters Tuesday night. “We’re super-talented, and if everyone does his job and understands his role, I think we’ll be a very, very good team. At this point of the season, we’ve really started to figure out our roles.”
Said Barnes: “We told these guys the other night that they’re closer to being sophomores than freshmen and that we’re expecting a lot out of them.”
Unlikely evening
Tuesday night was unlike any other this season for Tennessee given that Ament was sidelined and that senior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored only eight points.
It was the first time the transfer from Maryland had failed to reach double figures in points since the opening win over Mercer, when he also scored eight. Gillespie more than made up for that in Columbia by dishing out 12 assists and committing one turnover.
“He’s improved over these last six or seven games,” Okpara said. “Everything has slowed down for him. He’s seeing the floor better, and that’s making things easier for us with his lobs.”
Said Berg: “Ja’Kobi is the engine of this team. He’s the head of the snake who has to make decisions. He’s matured, and he’s making good reads.”
Odds and ends
Tennessee has won 13 of its past 15 meetings with South Carolina. … The Vols finished 5-4 in SEC road games, rallying from and 0-2 start with setbacks at Arkansas and at Florida. … Evans became the 11th different Tennessee player to start this season. … Okpara has scored at least 15 points in three of the past five contests after reaching that mark just four times previously in his college career. … The Vols have won at least 11 league games for the fifth consecutive season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.