Tennessee Defeats Mercer Despite First Game Struggles

The Vols started the game off slow, as they went down multiple possessions and would find their way back. This led to a very up and down half of basketball, with a lot of issues that were glaring mistakes. The Vols needed to fix this, but they didn't do that until after halftime. While it wasn't perfect after halftime, this is when they made some improvements.

The Vols three-point shooting took a major step up in the second half of the contest. One of the players to drain some threes was freshman guard Troy Henderson, who played in his first college game ever. He was one of the more popular names to get some reps, and he played a great game. He was arguably a top guard that played in this contest.

Another player who drained some shots was Ja'Kobi Gillespie. He is the transfer that joined the roster from the Maryland Terrapins, and is a prospect who came form the state of Tennessee. He grew up a Tennessee fan, and can now finish his college career as a Vol. He is forced to fulfill a major role now that the Vols no longer have Zakai Zeigler on the roster.

The story of this game was the debut of one of the highest-rated recruits in the history of Tennessee basketball. That player being starting forward Nate Ament. While it is a bit unfair to compare him to the likes of Kevin Durant and Victor Wembanyama like he has been for quite some time, he still had an efficient night, which was one of the bright spots of the day.

Tennessee will be back in action on Saturday, when they play against Northern Kentucky in their home arena yet again. This will be another game that the Vols will be expected to win by a large amount. Until then, the Vols will look to improve through practices and as a team with the chemistry before they get into their next contest.