This time Vanderbilt beat Tennessee when the Volunteers had Nate Ament.
Albeit an Ament who had his toughest outing of the season.
Duke Miles and Tyler Tanner combined for 49 points as the 22nd-ranked and fourth-seeded Commodores bounced the 25th-ranked and fifth-seeded Vols from the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals 75-68 Friday afternoon inside Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Vanderbilt improved to 25-7 and will next play fourth-ranked and top-seeded Florida (26-6) in Saturday’s first semifinal (1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN).
The Commodores lost 69-65 to Tennessee in Nashville on Feb. 21, but they defeated the Vols 86-82 this past Saturday in Knoxville, when Ament sat out with a high-ankle sprain.
“That was round three,” Commodores second-year coach Mark Byington said afterward in a press conference. “Tennessee and Vanderbilt have had some terrific games this year, and these two teams are so evenly matched. Our guys played supper aggressive, and I loved that they were just attacking the entire time. It was fun to coach them, and it was a heck of a game.
“It’s hard to beat a team in back-to-back games, so we’re fortunate to move on. As you keep going on, it gets tougher and tougher. We’re going to wake up tomorrow, and there are going to be four SEC teams here, and we’re one of them. We’ve got the defending national champs, so we’ll have to prep quick.”
Byington improved to 3-2 with the Commodores against Tennessee after predecessor Jerry Stackhouse lost 13 of his last 14 against the Vols.
Ament, who returned to action with a 27-point performance in Thursday’s 72-62 comeback win over Auburn in the tournament’s second round, made a free throw 53 seconds into Friday’s matchup but wouldn’t score again until 8:44 remained in the game. The 6-foot-10, 207-pound freshman forward scored 12 points, making 10 of 12 free throws but going 1-of-13 from the floor and missing all five of his 3-point attempts.
His one basket, a jumper with 5:57 to play, pulled Tennessee within 63-61 moments after the Commodores had stretched the lead to 58-51 on AK Okereke’s 3-pointer with nine minutes left. Ament’s two free throws with 54 seconds remaining would pull the Vols within a possession for a final time at 71-68, but the five-star signee missed a turnaround jumper and a 3-pointer on Tennessee’s last two offensive possessions.
“We actually thought about not even playing Nate at all just as a precautionary for next week,” Vols 11th-year coach Rick Barnes said. “He said, ‘There’s no way I’m not going to play.’ When you don’t go for 10 days and you play a physical game like we did yesterday, you’re going to be a little sore.
“Nate tried, but we’ve got to help him by making some of those shots around the rim.”
The Vols, who dropped to 22-11, are expected to be either a No. 5 seed or a 6 seed in the NCAA tournament that starts next week and will learn their fate on Sunday night’s selection show. Tennessee has reached the Elite Eight of the past two NCAA tournaments as a 2 seed, and the Vols have never been lower than a 5 seed under Barnes.
Senior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s 21 points led Tennessee, with redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella joining Ament with 12 points. Junior forward Jaylen Carey, a Vanderbilt transfer, had 10 points for the Vols.
“This was a frustrating game,” Ament told reporters. “I was getting to my spots, but I wasn’t able to get them to fall. If we’re going to have success in March, I’ve got to make my shots.”
Gillespie’s 3-pointer gave Tennessee a 6-2 lead, but both teams struggled early, entering the second media timeout shooting a combined 5-of-26 from the floor. They started going back and forth past the midpoint of the first half, with a 3-pointer by Miles at the 8:04 mark putting Vanderbilt up 18-16 and Ethan Burg countering from long distance 25 seconds later to put the Vols in front 19-18.
The first half contained 10 lead changes and ended in a 31-31 deadlock, with Gillespie’s layup with two seconds left producing the tie. Ament missed all five of his first-half attempts from the floor and Carey missed all four of his free throws, but the Commodores couldn’t capitalize, going 3-of-16 from 3-point range (18.8%) in the first 20 minutes.
(SIGN UP: Get the daily sports newsletter in your email box by clicking here)
Neither team led by more than four points in the first half, and it was more of the same in the second half until Gillespie made a 3-pointer with 14:51 remaining to give the Vols a 45-38 advantage. The Commodores answered with a 15-3 run over the next 3 1/2 minutes that was capped by Miles hitting a 3-pointer for a 53-48 lead.
“There was still a lot of time left when we went up seven, and it’s a game of runs,” Barnes said. “We were too deep in the gap and too slow getting out of the gap, and we gave up a quick 3 to Miles, who played terrific. He was the difference in the game.
“He got the ball where he wanted it and had a great day. We also had some of our turnovers right then, because they got a couple of easy baskets.”
Miles scored a season-high 30 points, going 11-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
“I just wanted to bring the energy,” Miles said. “I came into this game knowing we had a big emphasis on rebounding and finishing and just bringing the energy.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.