Leading up to Tennessee's first-round game against Miami (Ohio), everyone knew Nate Ament was incredibly banged up, but he was pushing through the pain in his ankle and knee to help out his team. However, it's clear he's not himself and Ament left the game early in the second half in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament for UT.
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Thankfully, it doesn't look like Ament is seriously hurt, as the CBS broadcast team announced that Rick Barnes and Co. are just 'being cautious with him' due to such a big lead in the second half. Still, despite that, Ament must be frustrated and this is a major concern leading up to the game against No. 3 Virginia on Sunday.
Nate Ament playing hurt is a big concern for Tennessee against Virginia
Before exiting the game, Ament had no points to his name. He was 0-3 from the field in 18 minutes of action. Yup, that's not what anyone is ever going to expect from the 5-star freshman, but again, this poor kid is playing hurt.
In a perfect world, the Vols would have been able to rest him on Friday vs. Miami (Ohio), but Barnes deemed that he was fit enough to take the floor and make his usual plays for the Vols. Unfortunately, that didn't end up being the case, but the Vols still posted a 78-56 win.
While Ament was hurt, the rest of the team picked up the pace, with Ja'Kobi Gillespie having a brilliant performance. That's right, the transfer stud was on fire from start to finish, which of course made the Tennessee faithful quite happy. He finished the win with 29 points.
In order for the Vols to post an upset over Virginia later this weekend, Gillespie will have to be at his best. At the same time, Ament needs to improve health wise and get back to his old self. You've got to feel bad for him, as he's nowhere close to 100 percent. That much was on full display on Friday. We can only hope this doesn't keep bringing him down in the way that it just did.