How Nate Ament found his groove for Tennessee basketball just in time vs Virginia
· Yahoo Sports
PHILADELPHIA − Nate Ament didn't say much about scoring his first points in over a week.
"It felt good," was all he offered, but the 6-foot-10 freshman exuded a quiet confidence after No. 6 Tennessee basketball toppled No. 3 Virginia (30-6) at Xfinity Mobile Arena on March 22.
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The Vols (24-11) will match up with No. 2 Iowa State (29-7) in the Men's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 at the United Center in Chicago. Tennessee knows it will need Ament's best against the Cyclones on March 27 (10:10 p.m. ET, TBS), just like it needed him to beat the Cavaliers.
Ament missed his first shot of the game against Virginia, continuing a cold shooting spell that started in the SEC Tournament against Vanderbilt and dribbled into his first scoreless outing of the season against Miami (Ohio) in the first round.
The potential NBA draft lottery pick soon snapped the streak with a 3-pointer from the left wing.
"We knew Nate wasn't going to have another game like that," said junior forward Jaylen Carey. "That's Nate Ament. He's a lottery, top-10 pick. He knows what he needs to do. He knows what we need from him, and he's going to show up for us."
Ament still wasn't quite right. That 3-pointer was his only made shot of the first half, and he entered halftime 1-of-5 from the field.
The brief intermission allowed Ament to breathe, and he began the second half with a renewed vigor. He looked like the Ament of old, backing down defenders in the post, using his long-limbed frame to shoot over contests, and getting to the foul line. He scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half on 50% shooting.
He agreed that he found his groove.
"Yeah, for sure," he said. "I think the game just kind of slowed down for me. I was fighting fatigue in that first half. Sitting out for a couple games, it's kind of hard to get your legs back under you, so that first half I was kind of fighting fatigue a lot. But then the second half, I was able to slow down."
Redshirt sophomore J.P. Estrella had high praise for Ament. Estrella played with former SEC Player of the Year and 2024 NBA first-round draft pick Dalton Knecht as a freshman, yet he's ready to put Ament in a class of his own.
"He's one of the most talented offensive players I've ever seen," Estrella said. "He's 6-foot-10 and does everything. He guards, blocks shots. We needed him to keep being aggressive because we know how good he is."
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: [email protected]
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nate Ament found his groove for Tennessee basketball in March Madness Sweet 16