Star Tennessee basketball wing Nate Ament is officially out for the Vols’ regular-season finale against Vanderbilt. Tennessee originally listed Ament as doubtful on Friday night before downgrading him to out Saturday.
It’s the second straight game that Ament has missed with a high ankle sprain with the Vols knocking off South Carolina 78-59 in Columbia on Tuesday night without their star freshman.
Ament rolled his right ankle in the first half at Missouri and then worsened the injury in the first half of Tennessee’s loss against Alabama last Saturday. He was on the ground trying to corral a loose ball when an Alabama player fell on his right leg and it bent backwards. He briefly returned in the second half but played less than three minutes before exiting for the remainder of the game.
The wing also injured his knee on the play against Alabama though head coach Rick Barnes said that the knee injury is not bothering Ament as much as the ankle.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes did not have a firm time table for when Ament could return during his Friday media availability, but stated that Ament is doing everything he can to play and would play through the pain if the Vols allowed him.
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“I know he’s doing everything he possibly can through rehab, working with Chad (Newman) and ‘G’ (Garrett Medenwald) and obviously through our doctors,” Barnes said. “And he’s a model patient, if that’s what you want to call him. But other than that, we don’t know. I’ve said it before, if it were up to him he’d play every game. But we’ve obviously got to make sure that we’re doing the right thing for Nate.”
The star freshman is averaging 17.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season. He leads the Vols in rebounding, ranks second in points and ranks third in assists. 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.
Ironically, one of Ament’s worst performances in SEC play came at Vanderbilt when he totaled just 13 points on three-for-13 shooting from the field. However, Ament hit a crucial turnaround late that gave Tennessee a lead that it never relinquished.
Tennessee is currently 4.5-point favorites over Vanderbilt according to the DKSportsbook. KenPom predicts Tennessee to earn a 76-72 victory over the Commodores. Tipoff between the Vols and Commodores is at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon. Matt Schumacker and Richard Hendrix are on the call for ESPN.
