Las Vegas, NV – The Tennessee men’s basketball team led Kansas by 12 in the final 14 minutes Wednesday evening, but came up on the short end of an 81-76 result after a furious comeback by the Jayhawks.
No. 17/16 Tennessee (7-1) got a game-high 20 points from freshman forward Nate Ament in the Players Era Men’s Championship third-place game at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Volunteers held Kansas (6-2) to a 5-of-19 start from the field, including forcing six consecutive misses, en route to claiming s 25-19 lead at the 8:23 mark of the first half. The Jayhawks, though, scored nine of the next 11 points to go ahead, 28-27, just 3:27 later.
After the teams split the next two baskets, Tennessee went on a 12-2 run in 3:29 to go ahead by a then-game-best nine points, 41-32, with 44 seconds left in the frame. The stretch concluded with seven consecutive points in 53 seconds, culminating with a steal and fast-break dunk by junior forward Jaylen Carey.
Kansas scored the last basket of the session to make it a seven-point game, 41-34, at the intermission. Tennessee, which shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the floor, limited the Jayhawks to a 32.3 percent (10-of-31) clip, but they shot 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from deep and 90.9 percent (10-of-11) at the line.
The Volunteers scored five of the first seven points after the break to go up by double digits for the first time, 46-36, with 18:22 left on a layup by Bishop Boswell. The sophomore guard, just 2:33 later, put the team ahead by a game-high dozen, 53-41, on a 3-pointer.
The two sides split the next four points, but Kansas redshirt sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson then went on a personal 8-0 run in 1:41, trimming the margin to four, 55-51, with 12:09 to go. Tennessee hit a free throw on its next trip and then, after a stop, snapped a 5:19 drought without a field goal on a 3-pointer by senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie to push the margin back to eight, 59-51, with 10:30 remaining.
Kansas responded with five points, three from Jackson, in the ensuing 69 seconds to get within three, 59-56. Tennessee tacked on three points from the line, but the Jayhawks had back-to-back three-point plays from senior guard Melvin Council Jr., to tie it at 62 with 7:25 on the clock.
Tennessee regained the lead 23 ticks later on a floater by Gillespie, but Kansas countered with a 10-2 run in 2:43 to go up by six, 72-66, with 3:25 left. The lead reached seven, 75-68, with 2:02 to go. The Volunteers scored the next four points to make it 75-72 with 56.9 seconds to play, but got no closer.
Ament made all eight of his free throws in the third 20-point performance of his young career and he added nine rebounds. The Manassas, Va., native connected on all eight of his free-throw attempts becoming the first Tennessee freshman to do so since Jaden Springer on February 24th, 2021.
Carey produced the fifth double-double of his career with 11 points and a game-best 10 rebounds, the latter mark tying his season high. He added four assists to co-lead all players and match his career best.
Gillespie finished with 11 points, four assists and two steals, while redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella had 10 points and made all four of his field-goal attempts.
Council co-led the Jayhawks with 17 points, 12 of which came in the second half. He added six rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Jackson also had 17 points for Kansas, all but two of which were in the final 13:16. He went 4-of-7 from the floor, 2-of-3 beyond the arc and 7-of-7 at the line.
Senior guard Tre White totaled 14 points, all within the first 13:33 of action. He went 3-of-3 from the field, 2-of-2 from deep and 6-of-6 at the line in that stretch, but missed his lone shot the rest of the way before fouling out. Sophomore forward Flory Bidunga had 13 points and seven rebounds, but Tennessee held him to 5-of-15 shooting, including forcing nine straight first-half misses.
Tennessee, which led for 27:51 and trailed for only 7:37, sent Kansas to the line 30 times and it made 26 of those attempts, good for an 86.7 percent ledger.
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Next Up For UT Men’s Basketball
The Tennessee Vols basketball team next heads to Syracuse, NY, for an ACC/SEC Challenge showdown at the JMA Wireless Dome against Syracuse, with action set for Tuesday at 7:00pm, live on ESPN2.
