No. 18 Tennessee handles Mercer in season opener, 76-61

Rick Barnes won’t like the 19 turnovers Tennessee Basketball committed Monday night. He won’t like only five turnovers forced, the 1-for-7 start from the floor or the nearly three minutes his Vols spent trailing Mercer in the season opener at Food City Center. 

But No. 18 Tennessee woke up in enough time and did more than enough to beat the visiting Bears 76-61 to start the new season. 

Ten different players scored for the Vols (1-0), including eight with five or more points, led by five-star freshman Nate Ament with 18 points and nine rebounds. JP Estrella scored 12 off the bench, Ja’Kobi Gillespie had eight points and six assists, Jaylen Carey had eight points and 10 boards and Troy Henderson scored six with a pair of 3-pointers.

Freshman forward DeWayne Brown had six points, five rebounds two assists and Cade Phillips had six points and three boards. Bishop Boswell scored five points and had eight rebounds and Felix Okpara had five while battling foul trouble.

Baraka Okojie led Mercer (0-1) with 15 points. Armani Mighty scored 14 and Zaire Williams had 10.

Tennessee went 5-for-9 from the 3-point line in the second half, after going just 1-for-6 in the first half. The Vols nearly doubled Mercer in total rebounds, 54-31, and had 18 assists on 29 made shots.

The Vols shot 49.2% from the floor and 41.2% from the 3-point line, while Mercer was just 29.9% from the field and 20.7% from three.

Tennessee led 33-21 at halftime after slow start

Tennessee trailed for just under three minutes early in the game, after starting 1-for-7 from the floor. The Vols took the lead and took control with a 13-2 run later in the half and later forced seven straight missed shots by Mercer and 11 of 12. 

It was a 33-21 Tennessee lead at the break after Estrella scored a team-high eight points off the bench on 4-for-6 shooting from the floor. DeWayne Brown, Jaylen Carey and Cade Phillips had four points each while Carey (8) and Brown (5) combined for 13 rebounds.

Ament had six points and five rebounds and Gillespie scored five while Tennessee went just 1-for-6 from the 3-point line. 

Mercer shot just 21.2% from the floor in the first half while going 1-for-17 from the 3-point line.

Up Next: Tennessee vs. Northern Kentucky

Tennessee Basketball will take advantage of Tennessee Football’s bye week by hosting a home game on Saturday against Northern Kentucky. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern Time streaming again on SEC Network+.

The Vols open with five straight buy games before going to Las Vegas for the Players Era Men’s Championship Thanksgiving week. 

Tennessee will host North Florida on Wednesday, November 12 (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+), Rice on Monday, November 17 (8:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network) and Tennessee State on Thursday, November 20 (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) before going to Las Vegas.

The Vols play in the first game in the Players Era tournament against Rutgers on Monday, November 24 in a 1 p.m. ET start on TNT and HBO Max at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

No. 2 Houston is the opponent the following day, on Tuesday, November 25, in a 6 p.m. ET start on TNT and HBO Max. Tennessee will face a third opponent on either Wednesday or Thursday before returning home.