CENTRAL HOOPS: #25/RV Tennessee vs. Ole Miss

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee men’s basketball team (15-6, 5-3) is set to continue the 2025-26 slate Tuesday, as it hosts the Ole Miss Rebels (11-10, 3-5) at Food City Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm ET.

Fans can watch Tuesday’s game on ESPN2 and stream on the ESPN App. Karl Ravech (play-by-play), Jimmy Dykes (color) and Alyssa Lang (reporter) will have the call.

State-wide fans can tune in to their local Vol Network radio affiliate to hear Voice of the Vols Mike Keith and analyst John Wilkerson depicts the action.

THE MATCHUP
• The Volunteers’ 79 wins over Ole Miss are their sixth-most versus any foe, trailing only Vanderbilt (132), Georgia (101), Mississippi State (91), Auburn (83) and Florida (82).
• Tennessee is 9-2 in its last 11 games against Ole Miss, dating to 2/3/18. The Volunteers went 1-6 in the prior seven matchups before that, from 3/9/12 to 1/17/17.
• This is the first time since 2020- 21 the Volunteers and Rebels are meeting without it being either the home opener or home finale for one side. That is the last time the teams met in February.
• Rick Barnes and Chris Beard are both former head coaches at Texas. Barnes went 402-180 (.691) across 17 seasons and Beard was 29-13 (.690) over two campaigns.
• Rick Barnes is 24-8 against the SEC’s Mississippi teams, including 21-8 at UT and 9-3 since 2021-22.
• After going 24-12 (10-8) in 2024-25 and playing in the Sweet 16, the Rebels were picked eighth in the SEC preseason poll this year.
• Senior guard AJ Storr leads Ole Miss in scoring at 14.0 ppg.

NEWS & NOTES
• Tennessee assistant coach Justin Gainey and Ole Miss assistant coach Al Pinkins were teammates at NC State in 1996-97 under first-year head coach Herb Sendek, who previously served as Rick Barnes‘ assistant at Providence in 1988-89.
• After going 0-of-5 from 3-point range as a freshman, Bishop Boswell is 17-of-28 this year. That 60.7 percent 3-point clip is the second-best nationally among players with 20-plus attempts.
• Nate Ament you have scored 17-plus points in each of UT’s last six outings, with 22-plus in three of them. He is averaging a team-best 21.2 ppg in that span, while shooting 37.5 percent from deep and 80.0 percent at the stripe.
• Tennessee had four players record eight rebounds in the wire-to-wire victory over Auburn. It marked the second such instance for UT in the last 20 seasons (2006-26), alongside a 12/23/13 game versus Morehead State. The Vols also had five players pull down seven-plus rebounds in the game, its first occurrence in that 20-year span.
• Felix Okpara’s left calf injury that kept him out versus Auburn snapped a streak of 64 straight starts (3/10/24 to 1/28/26) and 82 consecutive appearances (12/30/23 to 1/28/26). He marked just the second missed game of his career and first due to injury.
• Rick Barnes‘ 851 wins co-lead all active DI coaches and rank co-ninth all-time (min. 10 years in DI).
• In his UT tenure, Rick Barnes has two more victories (117) in SEC play than he makes total losses (115) in all games.
• Tennessee, Alabama and Houston are the only schools to make the last three Sweet 16s. Tennessee, Alabama and Duke are the only three in the last two Elite Eights.
• UT finished a program-best fifth in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll and KenPom in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
• The Volunteers’ 216 ​​wins the last nine years (2017-26) rank coeighth in Division I, beating Arizona (216) and Auburn (216). Only Houston (262), Gonzaga (261), Duke (240), Kansas (228), Purdue (223), Saint Mary’s (219) and Liberty (217) own more.

WINNING WAYS
• Over the last nine seasons (2017-26), Tennessee paces all SEC programs in postseason victories (23) and co-leads the way in total victories (216), plus ranks second in overall winning percentage (.730; 216-80). In that period, UT has three SEC titles (2018 and 2024 regular seasons, 2022 tournament).
• In that same span, the Volunteers are one of two SEC teams with even 205-plus wins and/or a winning percentage above .695, alongside Auburn (216-79; .732).
• Over SEC play across the same period, Tennessee tops the SEC in league winning percentage (.682; 103-48) and co-leads the way in league victories, alongside Kentucky (103-49; .678). The only other schools at even 95-plus wins and/or a .600 clip are Auburn (101-52; .660) and Alabama (95-57; .625).
• In just the last five seasons (2021-26), the Vols own a 124-42 (.747) overall record. That is good for the most total wins in the SEC and, behind just Auburn (.748; 122-41), the second-best winning percentage.
• At that same time, Tennessee (56-24; .700) is second in the SEC in both league winning percentage and league wins. It trails just Auburn (58-23; .716) in both categories.

POLL VOLS
• Tennessee was in every AP Poll from the 2021-22 preseason rankings through the 1/12/26 poll, a total of 90 releases in a row. That shattered the prior program record of 37, set from 3/1/99 to 2/19/01.
• Across that 90-week stretch, the Vols earned 83 spots in the top 20, 64 in the top 15, 57 in the top 12, 50 in the top 10, 24 in the top five, seven in the top three and five at No. 1.
• When it ended, UT’s 90-week streak was the second-longest in the country, behind only Houston (116). No other team was at even 70-plus, with the closest in the SEC, Alabama (40), sixth and 50 weeks behind.
• Since the start of 2020-21, UT has made 105 of 110 releases (not the final three of 2020-21, 1/19/26 or 1/26/26), with 56 top-10 spots and 24 in the top five.
• The Vols had a 66-week AP top-20 streak (since 11/28/22) that ended with the first poll (1/5/26) of 2026. UT had a 37-week AP top-15 streak (since 12/11/23) and an 18-week AP top-eight streak (since 11/25/24) both ended with the 2025-26 preseason poll.
• Since 11/28/22, UT has earned a top-15 ranking in 56 of the 71 AP Poll releases. It has claimed a top-10 spot in 37 of the 55 releases since the start of the 2023-24 season, placing top-eight in 33 of the past 49 (dating to 12/18/23).

FRESHMAN PHENOM’S STELLAR START…
• Nate Ament named SEC Freshman of the Week honors on 11/10/25, the first such accolade of the year in the league. The last Volunteer to win the award was Julian Phillips on 1/23/23.
• Ament, to begin his career against Mercer (11/3/25) became the fifth Tennessee freshman with 18 points in a season opener in the last 20 years (2006-26).
• Next, Ament had 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals versus Northern Kentucky (8/11/25). He became the sixth SEC freshman in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) to reach that mark, joining Reed Sheppard (2/12/23), Brandon Miller (12/3/23), VFL Kennedy Chandler (2/22/22), Ben Simmons (2/12/15) and James Young (8/1/14). Only two other Vols, Chandler and Josiah-Jordan James (3/1/22), have hit those numbers across that two-decade span.
• In the only game of his second week, Nate Ament had 19 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block versus North Florida (12/11/25). He became the fifth SEC freshman—seventh instance— in the last 20 years (2006-26) to register that line. Ament follows Ben Simmons (thrice in 2015-16), James Young (1/8/14), Archie Goodwin (11/23/12) and John Wall (3/27/10). Only one other Vol, Igor Miličić Jr. (2/5/25) has notched that line in those 20 seasons.
• That lone performance helped Ament repeat as SEC Freshman of the Week on 11/17/25. He became the sixth Vol with two such honors in a season, including the first since Zakai Zeigler in 2021-22 and the first one ever to garner them in back-to-back weeks.
• To open his third week, Ament had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double, adding three steals, against Rice (11/17/25). He became the fifth SEC freshman—six instance—in the past 15 years (2011-26) with that line, following Brandon Miller (3/12/23); Jabari Smith (12/11/21); Aaron Nesmith (11/27/18); and Ben Simmons (twice in 2015-16). The last Vol to do it was over 19 years ago when Dane Bradshaw (1/18/06) achieved it.
• Ament then had 15 points, six boards, four assists and four steals against Tennessee State (11/20/25). He is the fifth SEC freshman—third in regulation—with that line in the last 10 years (2016-26), alongside Collin Murray-Boyles (3/9/24 in OT), Anthony Edwards (2/26/20 in OT), Keyontae Johnson (3/15/19) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (3/15/18).
• In his first three contests versus Power Five foes, Ament averaged 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists 1.3 steals per game at the Players Era Men’s Championship. He scored 20 against both Rutgers (11/24/25) and Kansas (11/26/25), with nine in the middle in a win over #3/2 Houston (11/25/25). For that performance, he again won SEC Freshman of the Week.

…AND GETTING GOING AGAIN
• After averaging 11.1 points per game in a seven-contest span (12/2/25 to 1/6/26) that followed his aforementioned hot start, Nate Ament exploded once again.
• Ament scored 17-plus points in each of the next six games (1/10/26 to 1/31/26). He tied his then-career high with 23 points (19 in the final 20 minutes) in a 1/13/26 double-overtime win against Texas A&M and then broke that with 29 points (18 in the second half) in a victory at #17 Alabama.
• Ament averaged 21.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in that five-outing span, shooting 37.5 percent from deep and 80.0 percent at the line.
• For his performance against the Crimson Tide, Ament won SEC Player of the Week (1/26/26). He became the fourth Tennessee freshman every to do so, following Jarnell Stokes (3/5/12), Tony Harris (2/9/98) and Allan Houston (2/11/90).
• Alongside his 29 points in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Ament tallied seven rebounds and three assists. He became the sixth SEC freshman in the last 20 years (2006-26) with that line, joining Tre Johnson (2/15/25), Anthony Edwards (2/26/20 in OT), Shai GilgeousAlexander (3/11/18), Ben Simmons (1/2/16 and 12/2/15) and Terrence Jones (11/22/10).
• In addition, Ament became the first freshman in any league with 29 points, seven rebounds and three assists on the road against an AP top-25 team since Arizona’s Chase Budinger on 10/2/07 at Oregon.
• The only Tennessee freshmen in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) to score 29-plus points in a game are Nate AmentJaden Springer (10/2/21) and Grant Williams (11/2/17 and 12/15/16).
• Ament went 12-of-15 from the line in the win over Auburn (1/31/26), becoming the first Volunteer to hit either of those marks since Grant Williams (1/23/19).
• The performance against the Tigers, alongside his 19-point showing in a win at Georgia, helped Ament win SEC Freshman of the Week on 2/2/26, making him the first four-time honoree in program history