The Closing Five: Tennessee Escapes Vanderbilt with a Win

NASHVILLE — In a game that felt like all the easy shots were hard and all the hard shots were easy, Tennessee escaped No. 19 Vanderbilt, winning 69-65 in Nashville on Saturday afternoon.

It was close the entire way. The Vols never led by more than five, and the Commodores never extended their lead to double digits. Both squads went on runs, had cold spells, made bone-headed mistakes, and converted almost impossible shots. However, head coach Rick Barnes got one of his most impressive wins this year, and Tennessee is now 8-1 since losing to Kentucky at home.

HOW BOUT THOSE VOLS pic.twitter.com/65Ddsl6r3r

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) February 21, 2026

1: Winning Ugly

There is no doubt that Tennessee did not play its best game at Memorial Gymnasium, but sometimes, when playing a good team, winning when not playing its best is more impressive than winning at its best. It’s the type of growth that fans were begging for just a month ago.

“I don’t think we would have won it a month ago,” Barnes said. “When you talk about toughness, it’s not just the physicality part of it, it’s the mental toughness part. That’s where we’ve improved the most.” 

Tennessee had stretches where getting a basket felt like trying to convert a 3rd-and-15 with a zero blitz coming right at you. The Vols shot 13-34 from the field and 13% from three in the first half, while Vanderbilt was unconscious from outside, hitting five three-pointers at 42% in the first 20 minutes. Despite the tough half, Barnes’ squad was only down five points at halftime. 

Vanderbilt was playing defense very high up the floor, and it clearly bothered Tennessee. Point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, for long stretches of the game, wasn’t able to shake defenders with screens close to half court, making it impossible for him to get in the lane. Meanwhile, star forward Nate Ament was getting beaten up the entire game and was clearly sluggish down the stretch.

But despite all the adversity, this team found a way to manufacture enough offense to get a road win.

“Early into conference play, we were throwing everything all over the place, having no purpose to what we were doing on offense,” Barnes said. “We’ve gotten better with that, but we still, like every team right now, we still got to get better.”

2: Competing Without Ament’s Best

Ament clearly struggled throughout the game, even though he hit the biggest shot down the stretch. He caught multiple elbows to the body, was defended, doubled, and pushed with and without the ball for the whole 40 minutes, and it wore him down. He finished with 13 points on 3-13 shooting, 9 rebounds, 3 turnovers, and was 6-6 at the free throw line.

“I told Mike Keith [the shot] reminded me of the old Meadowlark Lemon trick where he hid it in his shirt,” Barnes said. “I didn’t know where the ball was and all at once, it comes popping out of there. He struggled, but they had a lot to do with that, obviously. He made that one when it counted. He stayed with it.”

However, others stepped up in his place. Freshman center Dwayne Brown II played a season high 30 minutes, guard Bishop Boswell had 9 points on 23 minutes with two clutch buckets in the final minute and a half, and got 19 minutes from freshman Amari Evans and 15 from guard Ethan Burg. 

“I thought our second line was really good today,” Barnes said “The guys coming off the bench, we got a lot of good on both ends of the court. Both ends, those guys were really helpful to us.”

3: Big Man Mix Up

Barnes had a difficult night trying to mix and match his front court. Forward J.P. Estrella missed his second straight game with a foot injury, and senior Felix Okpara was only able to play 16 minutes after getting into foul trouble in the second half. In those minutes, Okpara had 8 points and was a perfect 3-3 from the field and 2-3 from the line with only 4 rebounds. 

The player who stepped up on that front line was Brown. In his 30 minutes, he had 8 points and 4 rebounds on 4-7 shooting. Outside the stat sheet, he was extremely important as the primary rim defender when Okpara picked up his third and fourth fouls, finishing with a 130.7 defensive rating. That was the most of all the Vols who played 20+ minutes. 

“DeWayne Brown has been the biggest surprise on our team this year, and he’s only going to get better and better,” Barnes said, “Really knows how to play. Great hands, sees the floor, and the more he’s in the game, the more he gets a great feel for it.”

Forward Jaylen Carey had a performance that was par for the course in his matchup against his former team. He was 2-7 from the field with 7 points, 7 rebounds, and went 3-4 from the free throw line. The rebounding is good, and toughness was good, but the struggles with his shooting touch continue to disappoint, given what he’s done in the past.

4: Going Small

Part of the success in the second half came from a smaller lineup that Tennessee had to put on the floor when Okpara was out. They played Gillespie, Boswell, and Evans on the perimeter with Ament and Brown at the forward spots. Barnes has played this lineup before, but only out of necessity. 

“We’ve been doing it a little bit more in practice, because of thinking if we got in foul trouble, we wanted to have some things, and with that lineup, it helped us,” Barnes said. “It did. It helped us at that point in the game.”

The Vols have used this lineup before when in trouble, rotating Okpara, Brown, and Estrella at the center spot depending on the situation. Evans brings a lot of versatility on the wing in these situations and has often not been afraid to drive to the basket and make the right play. Ament has the size to play the four spot as well.

It’s an option that some fans want to see more of, but for now, it’s a changeup the coaching staff can use when in tight situations. It’ll be something to watch for more after that lineup has more success.

5: Remembering Wes Rucker

I did not know Wes, but I of course knew of him and his tremendous dedication to covering the Vols. His passing needs to remind us that while we love sports and the passion around it, college and professional athletics are never as serious as people fans take them to be. 

There has been an outpouring of support for the Rucker family, and close to the end of the night, Rick Barnes wanted to remind everyone how they can continue to help them following this horrible tragedy. 

“I’d like to ask you all to remember Wes Rucker and his family,” Barnes said. “I would encourage you all to encourage people to go to the GoFundMe account. We know that Wes wasn’t able to get life insurance due to a stroke he had years ago, and leaving behind a beautiful wife, a son, and a daughter on the way. Wes was a special person. We’re all colleagues in this, and I would just encourage you to get people to go help the family right now. They need it, and certainly tonight, before you close your eyes, say a prayer for him and his family. God bless.”