Tennessee was on a break for a midweek bye last week, but the Vols returned to action with a statement win on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. Rick Barnes’ squad took down No. 17 Alabama on their home court by a score of 79-73, giving Tennessee a marquee Top 25 win in conference play and its first true road win of the year.
Tennessee freshman forward Nate Ament has continued to look impressive as of late, capping off his latest outing against the Crimson Tide with a career-high 29 points. His last four games have seen him put up 17 points against Florida, 23 points against Texas A&M, 17 points against Kentucky, and 29 points against Alabama. The 6-foot-10 freshman has really come into his own in recent games, which is nothing but good news for the Tennessee program.
While Tennessee still has yet to string together consecutive wins in conference play, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Vols trending up in his latest March Madness Watch Guide. We won’t get Lunardi’s full bracketology update until Tuesday, but he did write on Monday that Tennessee was one of his teams on the rise.
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With the Vols landing as a 7-seed in Lunardi’s update before the Alabama game, Tennessee will likely come in as a projected 6-seed, at the lowest, in Tuesday’s update. Tennessee was a projected 6-seed for the last three weeks before dropping down to a 7-seed last Thursday.
Tennessee will return to action with a game against Georgia on Wednesday night in Athens. The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night but was postponed a day due to inclement weather in the area. A road win against a rising Bulldogs team would go a long way toward helping Tennessee continue its momentum after the win in Tuscaloosa.
No. 21 Georgia (16-4) will host Tennessee (13-6) at 7:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday night in Athens. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee Basketball coverage.
