No minutes limit, no problem: Nate Ament’s return fuels Tennessee’s comeback over Auburn

Coach Rick Barnes never asked.

“No one told me today that we had a restriction,” Barnes said with a smile. “I thought they would, but they didn’t. I didn’t ask. I didn’t ask.”

Good thing because the Volunteers would not have won without the freshman and their second-leading scorer. Ament scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half, rallying Tennessee from a double-digit deficit to a 72-62 win over Auburn at the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

“I felt great,” Ament said with a smile.

The 6-foot-10, 207-pound freshman is the highest recruit Tennessee has ever landed depending on the recruiting service checked. Ament has scored a career-high 29 points three different times this season, but he hurt his right leg Feb. 28 against then-No. 17 Alabama. Ament played only 11 minutes, 25 seconds in that loss.

Then Tennessee didn't play Ament at South Carolina on March 3 or in the regular season finale, a loss to in-state rival Vanderbilt.

Ament said he had been in constant communication with Tennessee coaches and the training staff. The freshman knew Wednesday night that he'd return to the court in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Once on the court, Ament says he focused on trying to get all his teammates involved.

“I know that I don’t have to do too much with this team for us to win,” Ament said. “I don’t got to shoot the ball every time, I don’t got to do something with the ball every time. For me, it’s just move the ball as much as I can.”

Ament had to Thursday. He scored 10 straight points to key Tennessee's rally, including making 9-of-13 free throws. The forward also had all eight of his rebounds and four assists in the second half.

“He’s been just a great player for us all year, a great closer at the end of games,” teammate Ja'Kobi Gillespie said of Ament. “I feel like second half at the end he just took over, won us the game really.”

With the freshman dealing with a high-ankle sprain on the inside of his leg, Barnes said he knows those are difficult. Ament wanted to play in the Alabama game, telling his coach his ankle sprain felt like every other such injury he had previously and played through.

Some critics thought Tennessee shouldn't have risked playing Ament in this tournament, instead preserving him for the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re going to listen and pay attention to the diagnostics, all that stuff we get, the information,” Barnes said.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball