Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 17 points to lead five Tennessee players in double figures as the No. 20 Volunteers cruised past visiting Tennessee State 89-60 Thursday night in Knoxville.
Freshman Nate Ament added 15 points, going 7 of 8 at the foul line, for Tennessee (5-0). Amaree Abram also hit for 15, DeWayne Brown scored 13 and Felix Okpara tallied 11 as the Volunteers connected on just 43.9 % of their field goal attempts.
Aaron Nkrumah scored a game-high 19 points for the Tigers (2-3), while Travis Harper added 17 and Antoine Lorick contributed 12 points. Lorick made all three shots he tried, notable because Tennessee State was a miserable 18 of 56 from the field and 5 of 27 on 3-pointers.
The Tigers’ other major problem was the inability to take care of the ball. They turned it over 22 times and Tennessee cashed in for 24 points. They also fouled 23 times, enabling the Volunteers to can 31 of 35 free throws.
Tennessee wasted little time putting its stamp on the game. Beginning with Abram’s 3-pointer 1:02 into the game, the Volunteers went on a 22-2 run that lasted 9:26. Tennessee State went 8:06 without a point until Harper’s dunk at the 8:44 mark made it 24-6.
The margin reached 26 on three occasions in the half, including with 4:55 left when Ethan Burg swished a 3-pointer off Jaylen Carey’s pass for a 38-12 cushion. Tennessee settled for a 43-21 advantage at the break following Ament’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds on the clock.
There wasn’t much suspense to a second half that turned sloppy at times. The Volunteers established a 30-point lead when Ament converted two foul shots with 14:14 left to make it 62-32. Brown made two foul shots at the 8:11 mark for a 76-42 cushion and Tennessee coasted to the final buzzer.
The Volunteers played with only nine scholarship players. Forward J.P. Estrella left Monday night’s 91-66 rout of Rice with a knee injury and will miss two to three weeks.
