LAS VEGAS — Ja’Kobi Gillespie came out fast, scoring 13 points in the first nine minutes. After a slow start, Nate Ament caught fire by scoring 17 points in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Tennessee’s star tandem shined in the Vols’ 85-60 win over Rutgers on Monday afternoon.
“They can be special, there’s no doubt about that because I think anytime you are willing to put the work in that they do — both of them are very unselfish and they’re still learning to play with each other,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said.
Gillespie made sure Tennessee did not have a sleepy start with the morning tip off. The senior point guard drilled three triples before the first media timeout and scored 14 of Tennessee’s first 19 points.
“We’ve seen him have days like this shooting it,” Barnes said.
“We were just running our offense and they were going under a lot of stuff and leaving me open so I was able to knock it down to,” Gillespie said.
Nate Ament missed a corner three-pointer on Tennessee’s first possession and did not attempt another shot during his first stint in the game. The 6-foot-10 forward turned down an open three-pointer and the usually quiet Gillespie barked at Ament to take the open shot.
Gillespie was not the only Vol to get on Ament for his conservative start to the game. It was a consistent message he heard after exiting for the first time with 12:32 to play in the first half.
“My coaches and everyone was telling me to wake up,” Ament said. “It’s time to go. Let’s get into attack mode. I just listened to them.”
Attack mode Ament was a site to behold. He scored on a contested layup just 22 seconds after checking back into the game. The five-star freshmen then hit a three-pointer that seemingly got the rim off the lid for him from deep.
More From RTI: Everything Tennessee HC Rick Barnes Said Following Blowout Win Over Rutgers
Before that triple went down, Ament was just six-of-25 from three-point range on the season. He proceeded to make his next three attempts from deep.
Ament scored 17 points while grabbing three rebounds and dishing out three assists in the first half. The projected lottery pick scored at all three levels, showing why is so difficult to guard when his jump shot is falling.
“Just learning when to attack and when not to when I’ve got the ball in my hands,” Ament said. “Just trying to learn that. Early in the game, trying to find my teammates and get them open shots and try to run the offense. Then later in the shot clock and later in the game, plays break down and they’re doing a better job guarding it, that’s when you can be more assertive.”
The final numbers jump off the stat sheet. Gillespie scored 32 points on six-of-10 shooting from deep while dishing out four assists. Ament totaled 20 points while grabbing five rebounds and totaling three assists. Neither totaled 30 minutes and spent much of the game’s final 10 minutes on the bench with the game wlel in hand.
Ament handled the basketball at times, allowing Gillespie to play off the ball and run off screens to get open shots.
“I mean it opens it up a lot because I mean they’re not going to help off him and if they do, he’ll make them pay,” Gillespie said of playing with Ament. “So just being able to dive those gaps and also play off of him because he’s obviously a good scorer but he’s also unselfish so it really opens it up.”
The duo are the go-to players for Tennessee. They were Tennessee’s only two players on the preseason All-SEC team. JP Estrella has the potential to land on the postseason team but Gillespie and Ament are the two that will drive the bus for the Vols’ this season.
A combined 52 points, eight rebounds and seven assists against Rutgers showed what Tennessee’s offense can look like when Ament and Gillespie get it going.
