Kansas knocks off Tennessee in third-place game at Players Era Tourney
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Kansas didn’t make a shot from the field over the final 4 minutes and 16 seconds on Wednesday night, but the Jayhawks (6-2) still had enough to knock off No. 17 Tennessee (7-1) and hand the Vols their first loss of the new season.
In the third-place game at the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas, Tennessee lost 81-76.
Nate Ament led the Vols with 20 points and 9 rebounds. He shot 5-of-15 from the field and made all 8 of his attempts from the free throw line. Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 11 points, but struggled with his shot all night. Gillespie went 5-for-19 from the floor and 1-for-10 from beyond the arc.
Tennessee had a 7-point lead at the halftime break, but shaky shooting flipped the script in the second half.
After a pair of foul shots from Ament with 15:06 to play, Tennessee led 55-43. The Jayhawks then scored 8 unanswered to climb back into the game.
As a team, Tennessee shot just 28% on its 3-point attempts. The Vols went ice-cold in the second half, making 2 of their 12 attempts from deep and connecting on just 31% of their shots overall. Ament didn’t make a shot from the field in the second half while Gillespie was tagged for 4 personal fouls in 19 minutes.
The Jayhawks scored their final 10 points from the free throw line. After a 3-pointer from Kansas guard Jamari McDowell with 4:16 to play, the Jayhawks only took 1 more shot from the field.
Everything else came from the charity stripe. Tennessee missed, and Tennessee fouled.
The Vols have a little under a week off before they make a trip to Syracuse to face the Orange on Dec. 2. That game tips at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
