Tennessee HC Rick Barnes’ stern Nate Ament challenge after ‘frustrating’ Missouri loss

Coming off a disappointing loss to Missouri, Tennessee head basketball coach Rick Barnes knows he can get more out of star forward Nate Ament, which is what he expects moving forward.

Ament ended the game with 17 points and seven rebounds on 5-for-14 shooting, which Barnes deemed was not enough. The longtime head coach said Ament needs to “fight” more if Tennessee is going to have success in the postseason.

“He’s going to have to get himself going,” Barnes said after the loss, via Rocky Top Insider. “He’s got to be the one to fight to get open. He knows how he’s been playing. It’s March. They’re not doing anything different he hasn’t seen. He’s going to have to work hard enough [and] he has to fight through contact and hope that he’ll get some calls with freedom of movement. But if he doesn’t fight, he’s not going to get those calls.”

Ament is suffering through a minor shooting slump in February, hitting fewer than 45 percent of his field goal attempts in four of his last five games. As a result, the star freshman has scored fewer than 20 points in three of Tennessee’s last five outings.

The Volunteers’ success is almost entirely dependent on Ament finding the bottom of the net. Tennessee is 11-2 when Ament scores at least 19 points, and just 9-6 when he scores 18 or fewer.

Tennessee’s loss to Missouri snapped a four-game win streak and dropped it to 20-8 in the 2025-2026 college basketball season. The No. 22-ranked Volunteers face No. 17 Alabama, South Carolina and No. 25 Vanderbilt in their final three regular season games. Their final two games against ranked opponents will both be at home.

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