How much was Tennessee going to have Nate Ament at their disposal on Thursday afternoon against Auburn in the SEC Tournament? How effective was he going to be in his return from ankle and knee injuries he suffered against Alabama at the end of February?

Well, the answers turned out to be a lot, and very. Ament had one of his best games of the season at the right time, putting up 27 points in the Vols’ 72-62 win over the Tigers. Ament played in 31 minutes, and he certainly didn’t look like a player gutting through a high ankle sprain, which can be a debilitating one. He was a catalyst during a 20-0 Tennessee run to take control of the game in the second half, scoring ten straight points to jump start the run.

Ament’s expected minutes coming into the game were unclear, per ESPN insider Pete Thamel before the game on Thursday. A grinning Rick Barnes after the game might have debunked that mystery.

Tennessee’s Rick Barnes said he ‘didn’t ask’ his staff whether there would be a minutes restriction for Nate Ament against Auburn

“I didn’t ask,” Barnes said while grinning with a chuckle. “No one said it to me. Chad (Newman) came to my room late last night, our trainer, and we talked about it. And I do know that high ankle sprains on the inside are difficult to deal with.

“But I meant what I said. Nate wanted to play. He wanted to go back in the Alabama game and play. He said to me, which was not a good thing to say to me, he said ‘coach, my ankle sprain feels like every ankle sprain I’ve ever had,’ and he said, ‘I’ve always played’.

“But we’re going to listen and pay attention to the diagnostics, all that stuff that we get, the information, the force plates, all that kind of stuff. But that’s just toughness overall. No one told me today that we had a restriction. I thought they would, but they didn’t. I didn’t go ask. I didn’t ask.”

The nation saw what Tennessee is with Ament and without him, with the Vols struggling mightily in the second half against Alabama and in the regular season finale against Vanderbilt with their star watching from the bench.

Now, it appears Tennessee has the services of their superstar as they look to claim their first SEC Tournament title since the 2021-22 season.

Next up for Ament and the Vols is Vanderbilt at 3:30 pm ET on Friday in Nashville.

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The Tennessee Vols eliminated the Auburn Tigers from the SEC Tournament in Nashville on Thursday.

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