Tennessee defeats Mississippi State 73-64

Story byTennessee defeats Mississippi State 73-64STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - FEBRUARY 11: Nate Ament #10 of the Tennessee Volunteers dunks the ball against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the first half at Humphrey Coliseum on February 11, 2026 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Wes Hale/Getty Images) | Getty ImagesCraig SmithThu, February 12, 2026 at 4:08 AM UTC·2 min read

The Tennessee Volunteers got back to their winning ways on Saturday night, getting past the Mississippi State Bulldogs on the road 73-64.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie led Tennessee with 18 points. Nate Ament added 16, and J.P. Estrella had 12 with 7 boards and 3 blocks.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

It was a bit of a scratch and claw game in the first half. Tennessee opened up with a flurry of dunks. Estrella caught an alley oop slam. He also drove the lane for a running dunk over a MSU defender. Felix Okpara also caught an alley oop and slammed it home in the early minutes. But State’s Josh Hubbard was unstoppable, scoring 14 of the Bulldogs’ first 16 points. He finished with a game-high 31 points.

The game remained tight for most of the first half, but Amari Evans gave Tennessee a bit of breathing room with a wide open three in the corner for a 31-25 lead, and the Vols would build momentum from there and take a 39-28 lead into the second half.

Tennessee pulled away over the first 10 minutes of the second half, building a 63-40 lead. However, the Vols took their foot off the gas in a major way, allowing the Bulldogs to go on an 18-0 run to bring the lead to a very shaky 63-58 with around 6 minutes left.

But Ament would shut the door for Tennessee. He drained an and-one to extend the lead to 66-58, and after a Bishop Boswell jumper, he finished with another driving and-one for a 71-58 lead going into the under four timeout to give the Vols some breathing room again.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

With 2 minutes left, Boswell saved the ball from going out with a nifty behind-the-back pass to Ament, who turned a two-on-one advantage into an alley oop dunk for a 73-60 lead and put an exclamation point on the win.

Up next for Tennessee is LSU on Saturday in Knoxville.

AdvertisementAdvertisement