Most of the conversation before Saturday night’s Alabama-Tennessee game in Tuscaloosa centered around Crimson Tide 7-footer Charles Bediako and his unprecedented return to college basketball from the NBA G League.
The talk coming out of the 79-73 victory by the Volunteers was Tennessee five-star freshman forward Nate Ament, who scored a season-high 29 points.
“We all knew he could play like that,” Vols senior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie told reporters afterward. “He has the skills and the mindset to be able to take over a game like that, and that’s what he did. Everybody in our building knows how good he is and how talented he is, and for him to go show it felt really good to see.”
Ament arrived in Knoxville as the highest-rated signee in program history. He arrived Saturday night ready to roll, connecting on a jumper 23 seconds into the contest and scoring six of Tennessee’s first 10 points.
The 6-10, 207-pounder from Manassas, Virginia, was even more effective down the stretch, making a jumper with 5:32 remaining and a pair of free throws with 4:42 left to extend a two-point lead to four on each occasion. The Crimson Tide never got within one possession after Ament’s free throws as Tennessee locked down its first true road win of the season, the latest such victory the Vols have experienced in the 11 seasons under Rick Barnes.
“Coach Barnes put me in a position to isolate their guards, and our big men were on the back side rebounding a lot,” Ament said, “so they just trusted me to get a shot off. I really wanted to win this game after coming off that tough loss against Kentucky.”
Ament became just the third Tennessee freshman in the last 20 seasons to score 29 points, joining Grant Williams and Jaden Springer. His previous high of 23 points was attained on two occasions: the whipping of Northern Kentucky in his second game with the Vols on Nov. 8 and the double-overtime outlasting of Texas A&M on Jan. 13.
His evening in Tuscaloosa included seven rebounds and three assists.
(READ MORE: Ament, Vols upstage Bediako’s return with win in Tuscaloosa)
“As much as we’ve tried to adjust Nate to the physicality he was going to see, it’s something you just have to live through,” Barnes said in a news conference. “He’s lived it, and I don’t think he’s had a great whistle all year. He is starting to understand how to attack space and not getting himself in trouble by going too deep. He was terrific tonight, but I think he’s been really good all year.
“I know when expectations are high for players, sometimes people get disappointed, but we are not one bit disappointed with what he’s done for us all year. He’s going to keep getting better, and it was just a matter of time where you felt like he would get the flow and confidence and the vision to see how he needed to attack.”
Ament is now 19 games into his college career, and he is averaging 16.2 points and 6.4 rebounds for a team that is 13-6 overall and 3-3 in Southeastern Conference play.
“I’m just adapting to our game and getting shots in the flow of the offense,” Ament said. “If you watched me early in the season, it could look like I was pressing at some points. I know Coach Barnes and my teammates are going to get me to my spots where I want to shoot the ball.”
Said Alabama coach Nate Oats: “Too many guys get their season highs on us. Nate Ament did a great job. We obviously know he’s a talented player. He’s supposed to go in the (NBA draft) lottery, and we didn’t have anybody really step up and do a great job stopping him.”
Scheduling change
Tennessee’s next game, which is at Georgia (16-4, 4-3 SEC), was moved Sunday morning from Tuesday to Wednesday due to the inclement conditions throughout the South. The tip time will remain at 7 p.m., and it will still be on the SEC Network.
New-look lineup
Vols redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella played in his 45th career game with the Vols on Saturday, and it was his first career start.
The 6-11, 240-pounder, from Scarborough, Maine, joined Gillespie, Ament, Bishop Boswell and Felix Okpara in the first five. He collected six points and five rebounds in his 26 minutes, though he did struggle through a 2-of-7 shooting performance and picked up four fouls.
“The team that we started tonight was the team that we thought would be our starting team when we first put our roster together,” Barnes said. “This is the team that we thought we would start from day one. I respect the fact that he’s had to fight really hard from his (foot) injury a year ago to get back and some other injuries along the way. I thought he was locked in, and we’re proud of him.”
Said Ament: “He had a big-time game. He did a good job rebounding, defending and making shots on his post-ups. We’re definitely going to need J.P., and he’s just improving every day in practice and every game we play.”
Five and counting
Saturday marked the fifth consecutive series triumph by Tennessee over Alabama, which is the longest for the Vols since winning nine straight against the Tide from 1968-72.
Tennessee’s most memorable win last season came at Alabama’s expense, when Jahmai Mashack made a 32-footer as time expired in a 79-76 thriller on March 1 inside the Food City Center.
“That’s not good,” Oats said. “They’re really good, and we haven’t been good enough. The one up there really hurt last year, but I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Barnes. He’s one of the best to do it in the last 20 or 30 years in college basketball.
“He’s done a great job against us, and we have to do a better job prepping our guys. They emphasize toughness and physicality, and we’ve got to do a better job of countering that.”
Alabama (13-6, 3-3 SEC), which played Saturday without junior guard Aden Holloway and freshman forward Amari Allen, visits Knoxville on Feb. 28.
The Bediako factor
Barnes was asked Saturday night what kind of role Bediako played in the outcome.
Bediako logged 25 minutes, compiling 13 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots.
“He’s a player we knew from playing in the past that he could go get those lobs and rebounds and change shots,” Barnes said, “but we didn’t do one thing different in terms of our scouting report.”
When asked to assess his performance, Bediako said: “I’ve got to do better. My rebound count was unacceptable.”
Odds and ends
Tennessee has three wins this season when trailing by double digits, rallying past Houston, Texas A&M and Alabama. … The Tide have averaged 70.9 points per game under Oats against Tennessee and 85.4 points against other opponents. … The Vols improved to 47-45 under Barnes against ranked foes, which includes a 31-18 record since Jan. 22, 2022.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.