Tennessee basketball improved to 2-0 on the young 2025-26 season Saturday afternoon with a dominant 95-56 win over Northern Kentucky.
The Vols are one week into the season with two wins in buy games. Tennessee has three more buy games before traveling to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival.
Even in lopsided victories, the opening week of Tennessee’s season gave us our first look at a number of new Tennessee players including five true freshmen. Three played serious roles while two only played sparingly. Here’s a look at how the group performed to begin the season including some quotes about them.
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Nate Ament, Wing
Against Mercer: 29 minutes, 18 points (6-of-11 FG, 1-of-4 3PT, 5-of-7 FT), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers
Against Northern Kentucky: 24 minutes, 23 points (6-of-12 FG), 2-4 3PT, 9-of-10 FT), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals
Averages: 26.5 MPG, 20.5 PPG (52 FG%, 37.5 3PT%, 82.4 FT%), 8.5 RPG, 3 APG, 3 TOPG, 1 SPG
Rick Barnes after NKU: “I thought he was assertive. I thought not just what he was doing driving the ball, his passes over the top of the zone were big. Thought he was really starting to see the court better. … It’s great for his teammates, because he’s a very unselfish player. I mean, he enjoys passing the basketball.”
Troy Henderson, Combo Guard
Against Mercer: 12 minutes, 6 points (2-of-3 FG, 2-of-3 3PT), 5 assists, 2 steals
Against Northern Kentucky: 16 minutes, 3 points (1-of-6 FG, 1-of-6 3PT), 2 assists, 1 turnover
Averages: 14 MPG, 4.5 PPG (33 FG%, 33 3PT%), 3.5 APG, 1 SPG, 0.5 TOPG
Nate Ament on playing with Henderson in AAU and what he brings UT following Mercer game: “His personality, All the people on the team can see it just as I have. He’s the same as he was in AAU as he was now. He lights up the locker room and makes us all laugh. I think he’s just been consistent about trying to get better. He knows his role as someone who can back up Ja’Kobi and be a spark off the bench. Him just being able to master that is just making us a better team and I think he understands that.”
DeWayne Brown, Power Forward
Against Mercer: 15 minutes, 6 points (3-of-3 FG), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover
Against Northern Kentucky: 12 minutes, (2-of-3 FG, 2-of-2 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers
Averages: 13.5 MPG, 6 PPG (83 FG%, 100 FT%), 4 RPG, 1 APG, 1.5 TOPG
AC Amorrow Morgan before NKU: “He has an incredibly high IQ for a freshman. … He’s ran as many miles as anybody in our program because he hasn’t missed very many days, when you talk about an availability standpoint. So when you talk about the summer and the fall, like he’s been available the entire time. And that’s been an opportunity for him to learn from some really good upperclassmen, JP, and obviously learn from Cade and learn from Felix. But he doesn’t back down ever. And then one of his strongest traits that’s going to be great for us is that he’s just a consistent person. He’s an everyday guy. And I think that’s a huge reason why he can figure out a way to score and be crafty. He is scoring down in the post without jumping very high. Obviously, he doesn’t have a great vertical, but he has great hands, great feel and he’s extremely intelligent.”
Amari Evans, Wing
Against Mercer: 3 minutes, 0 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound
Against Northern Kentucky: 3 minutes, 0 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound
Averages: 3 MPG, 0 PPG, 1 APG, 1 RPG
Clarence Massamba, Wing
Against Mercer: 1 minute, 0 points (0-of-1 FG, 0-of-1 3PT), 0 rebounds, 0 assists
Against Northern Kentucky: 2 minutes, 3 points (1-of-1 FG, 1-of-1 3PT), 1 steal
Averages: 1.5 MPG, 1.5 PPG (50 FG%, 50 3PT%), 0.5 SPG
