Everything Tennessee Basketball Players Nate Ament and JP Estrella Said After Win Over Mercer

Nate Ament and JP Estrella met with reporters after the win over Mercer.

Tennessee forward Nate Ament (10) with the shot attempt while guarded by Mercer guard Brady Shoulders (11) in NCAA college basketball game on November 3, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The process did not go as planned for the Volunteers during Monday evening's contest.

Although it was not pretty, the Tennessee Volunteers found a way to outlast and defeat the Mercer Bears inside Thompson-Bowling Arena at Food City Center to give the home team at 76-61 season opening win.

It wasn't as pretty and smooth as you'd like but season openers, anything can happen.

The team did show resiliency as they kept playing and ultimately pulled out the win.

Nate Ament and JP Estrella would meet with the media to breakdown the hard-fought win

Carried Over Duke Lessons for Ament

Tennessee forward Nate Ament (10) tries to the basket while guarded by Mercer guard Brady Shoulders (11) in an NCAA college basketball game on November 3, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Um, I think I learned the most in film, just um, having our coaching staff being able to kind of get on me in ways I can get better. Also, like I saw the way I was playing and I didn't like it. So, um, I thought I could just do a better job of running the floor, um, finding my teammates early, um, whenever I get the block and, you know, also help my teammates get open shots and stuff like that. So, I think, um, the more that I help, the more that I look from my teammates, the better, the more open I'm going to be when I get the ball," Ament said.

JP on DeWayne in Rotation

Tennessee forward DeWayne Brown II (6) during Tennessee basketball's media day and practice held at Pratt Pavilion on Oct. 9, 2025. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Oh, definitely. I mean, DeWayne (Brown II) came in and um, he came in offensively. Great job. Defensively, he does a really good job. He does a really good job rebounding, too. I mean, he shows it every day in practice. So, I'm really not surprised that when it comes to game time, he does the exact same thing that he was doing in practice, that he's doing in the games," Estrella explained.

Estrella On Cleaning Up Turnovers

Tennessee guard Ethan Burg (35) tries to get through the Mercer defense during an NCAA college basketball game on November 3, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Um, I think we just got to be (smarter). Um, I think we got to slow down a little bit. I feel like there was times where they sped us up and that's what got us into the turnovers. I mean. yeah, I just feel like we just got sped up. So, I feel like we just got to slow down a little bit, take our time, and um, you know, just really think about it."

Click HERE to watch and listen to everything Nate Ament and JP Estrella said after defeating Mercer.

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