The No. 23 Tennessee Volunteers are scheduled to take on the No. 24 Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday at 2 p.m. EST. Unfortunately, the Vols are going to be without one of their star freshman forwards for this contest.

Reports indicate that Nate Ament, who is dealing with a leg injury, is officially ruled out for the contest against Vanderbilt, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN. This will be Ament's second consecutive missed game.

“Nate Ament will not play for Tennessee today, per a source. He's officially out.”

The true freshman initially suffered the leg injury during Tennessee's 71-69 loss to No. 16 Alabama Crimson Tide on February 28. Ament was removed from that contest after 11 minutes of play. He is now slated to miss the final game of the regular season due to that leg injury.

With the 6-foot-10 forward ruled out, Amari Evans is expected to step up in his place. DeWayne Brown, Jaylen Carey, and Amaree Abram could also see extended playing time on Saturday against Vanderbilt. Either way, the Volunteers will have some options when they take on the Commodores.

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While Ament is out for the regular-season finale, head coach Rick Barnes claims the freshman forward should return by the start of the SEC Tournament, which is set to begin on March 11, according to Thamel during a segment of “College GameDay.”

“Nate Ament, Tennessee's star freshman, is out with an ankle injury against Vanderbilt today in Knoxville,” said Thamel. “Rick Barnes told me Ament should be back for the SEC Tournament.”

Nate Ament is one of Tennessee's key contributors. Through 29 games played, he is averaging 17.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.0 steals per contest. He is also shooting 41.4% from the floor and 32.8% from beyond the three-point line this season.