Nov 26, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Nate Ament (10) drives against Tennessee Volunteers guard Gavin Paull (11) in the first half in the 2025 Players Era Festival third place game at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Tennessee Basketball Suffers Defeat Against Kansas Jayhawks

Originally posted on Tennessee Volunteers on SI
By Caleb Sisk | Last updated Nov 26, 2025 9:09 PM ET

The Tennessee Volunteers played for the third time this week in the annual Players Era event that is being held in Las Vegas. This is one of the events that has made headlines, as the teams compete for some money that is granted to teams for both competing and winning. This money goes into the NIL pool, which is used for bringing the best of the best to Tennessee when it comes to the athletes.

Tennessee has had their fair share of talented athletes, who have come through the Tennessee basketball program. This includes one of the players who is on their roster today. That player being Nate Ament, who is a forward for the Vols, and a five-star prospect. He is one of the highest-rated prospects to come through the Tennessee program as a whole.

The Tennessee Volunteers played against the Kansas Jayhawks in game three, after the Vols defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Houston Cougars in the tournament. Unfortunately, this game wasn't the championship due to some specific rules that landed them in this game for the third place spot. This game was mostly dominated by the Vols in terms of a leader, but the Jayhawks made some moves even without their best player, Darryn Peterson.

Did Tennessee Win?

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This battle was quite interesting, as the Vols were hopeful to successfully defend their 0 in their record. In the end, the Jayhawks walked away with a win by a score of 81-76. This handed the Vols their first loss of the season.

The Vols' best player of the game was Ament, who finished the game with a total of 20 points and 9 rebounds. This is one of the better games of his young career, but he definitely got better in the tournament and from a decision-making standpoint. The Vols faced some adversity at this time, and many may say that this is what caused the game to be close and the Vols not having the chance to pull away when many believed they might.

The Vols will be out of action for some time, as they won't return to action until December 2nd. This is going to be when they play against Syracuse in one of the more interesting games of the slate. The Orange will be playing against the Vols and will have the home court advantage, as this will be the Vols first true road test of the season.

This article first appeared on Tennessee Volunteers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: