Abram, Gillespie lead Tennessee to 89-60 win over Tennessee State

A hot start on Thursday night in Knoxville powered No. 20 Tennessee to their fifth win of the season. The Volunteers jumped out to a quick lead over Tennessee State thanks to a couple of early three-pointers from Amaree Abram.

It was Abram’s first start of the season as Rick Barnes continues to shift around his lineup due to injuries. The Louisiana Tech transfer showed us something for the first time this season, shooting three of four from long range to score 15 points. All of his makes came in the first three minutes of action.

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Abram built the lead but it was the Tennessee defense that really buried the Tigers — at least early on. Tennessee State didn’t find double figures for an entire 15 minutes of play, struggling to get any looks.

Tennessee led 35-9 with five minutes to play in the first half. They would ultimately carry a 43-21 lead into the halftime break.

Nate Ament and DeWayne Brown took over from there and worked hard to get to the free throw line. Both freshmen connected on seven of eight attempts from the stripe to maintain Tennessee’s lead. Ament ended with another full stat line — 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Brown would score 13 points in 16 minutes of play.

“We all have high hopes for DeWayne, because you know what? He has been the biggest surprise on our team this year, by far,” Barnes said after the game. “And we weren’t sure —we knew when we recruited him that he was going to be a really good player. We didn’t know how long it would take him, and he’s way ahead of where we thought he would be to where we’re not afraid to put him in and plug him in at any time. Does he have to get better with understanding what’s going on? Absolutely. But again, he’ll figure it out.”

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Tennessee’s defensive intensity let up in the second half, but the Tigers were never close thanks to that hot start from the Volunteers. Tennessee would go on to win 89-60.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie led Tennessee with 17 points and…

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Publish date : 2025-11-21 13:24:00

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