Tennessee basketball star Nate Ament is out for the Vols’ Tuesday night matchup against South Carolina, the Vols announced Tuesday night. Ament suffered a right leg injury during the Vols’ 71-69 loss against Alabama on Saturday night.
“Ament is out due to a right leg injury sustained Saturday against Alabama,” Tennessee basketball’s statement read. “The timetable for his return is to be determined and he will continue to be evaluated.”
Ament was on the ground trying to corral a loose ball when an Alabama player fell on his right leg and it bent backwards. The injury occurred with 7:52 remaining in the first half. He briefly returned in the second half but played less than three minutes before exiting for the remainder of the game.
The 6-foot-10 wing suffered a knee injury on the play but also reaggravated the same ankle that he turned earlier in the week in a loss at Missouri. Ament did not practice on Monday before Tennessee departed for South Carolina.
Being without Ament is a major loss for Tennessee. The five-star freshman is averaging 17.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season. He leads the team in rebounding, ranks second in points and ranks third in assists.
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Ament has been even more productive in SEC play, averaging 19 points and six rebounds per game. He’s one of Tennessee’s major sources of offense. Not having him is a major blow for the Vols.
“I think it’ll be all hands on deck,” Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey said Monday of replacing Ament. “I think Bishop (Boswell) will have to step up more. I think Amari (Evans), I think Ethan (Burg), I think Troy (Henderson) needs to be ready. I think Mo (Amaree Abram) needs to be (ready).
“All of those guys, everybody that we have, they need to be ready to step up and contribute in some way. And it might not be scoring, but defensively, some minutes here or there where there’s no breakdowns. But it’s going to be all hands on deck type situation I think for all.”
Tennessee enters the final week of the regular season 20-9 (10-6 SEC) while South Carolina enters the week 12-17 (3-13 SEC). The Vols opened as 10.5-point favorites against South Carolina according to the FanDuel TN Promo Code Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 142.5.
Tipoff between the Vols and Gamecocks is at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday night at Colonial Life Arena. Kevin Fitzgerald and Perry Clark are on the call for the SEC Network.
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