March 12, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Nate Ament (10) dribbles the ball past Auburn Tigers guard Tahaad Pettiford (0) during the second half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images NASHVILLE — No. 22 Vanderbilt is scheduled to face No. 25 Tennessee in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Friday afternoon. This marks the third meeting between the two teams this season.
Each team has won on the other’s home floor, most recently the Commodores’ 86-82 victory last Saturday in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Tyler Tanner had 25 points in the game for Vanderbilt (24-7), and AK Okereke had 17.
The Volunteers (22-10) played without Nate Ament, who hit a big field goal in the final minute of a 69-65 win over Vanderbilt on Feb. 21.
Ament was outstanding on Thursday, posting team highs in points (27), rebounds (8), assists (4) and blocks (3) to help the fifth-seeded Volunteers to a 72-62 victory over 12th-seeded Auburn.
Tennessee trailed by 11 points before stepping up on defense to punctuate a 20-0 run.
Volunteers coach Rick Barnes said Ament has barely practiced the past two weeks because of a severe ankle sprain.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie, a first-team All-SEC pick and the Vols’ leading scorer averaging 18.0 points per game, praised Ament after the win.
“(Ament) won it for us in the second half,” Gillespie said. “Defensively, we were talking about (Auburn) being crushed if we kept them there and kept being super physical, and I feel like we did that.”
The same type of defensive pressure provided opportunities for the Volunteers in last Saturday’s loss to Vanderbilt.
The fourth-seeded Commodores, who will play about two miles from campus, closed the regular season with back-to-back road wins.
Tanner scored a combined 59 points in two games. A first-team All-SEC member, he led Vanderbilt in scoring average (19.2) and assists (5.2).
Tanner was Vanderbilt’s only point guard when Duke Mlles (15.9 ppg, 4.2 apg, 2.6 steals per game) was sidelined for a month after knee surgery. Miles has had trouble regaining form since returning, but his 13 points, four steals and 7-of-7 performance from the foul line were key to Saturday’s win.
“If you look at our performance against Tennessee, I thought that was the best version we’ve had with this group in a while,” Commodores coach Mark Byington said. “We have more weapons, we can share the ball, we can pass, we are more versatile. I expect this group to be our best group, and I’m glad they got rolling at the right time.”
Okereke, Vanderbilt’s glue man who does a little bit of everything, performed well in both wins, combining for 33 points and eight assists. He has also fouled out in his last three games, which has been an issue for the Commodores’ team as a whole throughout the season.
Vanderbilt needs Tyler Nickell (13.7 points, 40.2% 3-point shooting) to average below average scoring for the sixth straight game.
Tennessee is the best offensive rebounding team in the country (44.8% per KenPom). The Volunteers have outscored the Commodores by nine points in each meeting this season.
–Chris Lee (Field Level Media)
