Rick Barnes isn’t seeing anything he didn’t expect from Nate Ament nine games into his freshman season with Tennessee basketball.The Vols coach just sees a supremely talented player learning game by game.“It got a whole lot harder and he is not going to be able to do the things he did in high school,” Barnes said after Tennessee lost to Syracuse 62-60 on Dec. 2. “It’s a process. We knew he would go through it. He is going to have to listen because we are telling him. We are telling him. But some of it, he is going to have to go through the fire.”Ament is averaging 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds as the No. 13 Vols (7-2) prepare to face No. 15 Illinois (6-2) on Dec. 6 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The 6-foot-10 forward is coming off a rough performance at Syracuse in which he had a season-high seven turnovers. The former five-star recruit is averaging 13.3 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 24.2% in the past three games. He has scored more points at the free-throw line (21) than from the field (19).Barnes rattled through his explanations for Ament’s recent three-game rough patch as the level of competition dialed up against No. 7 Houston, No. 21 Kansas and Syracuse. Ament is learning he can’t play the way he did in high school. He has to learn to pick his spots offensively and embrace the flow of the game. He’s playing on the perimeter full-time for the first time in his career on both ends of the court.”He is putting so much pressure on himself and he doesn’t need to do that,” Barnes said. “He has got good guys around him. They have great respect for him and they know when they need to get him the ball and where they need to get it. He is pressing. He is putting way too much pressure on himself.”AMENT: Inside Nate Ament’s final visit with Tennessee basketball, Rick Barnes, mustard seed giftTennessee has two more nonconference games vs ranked teams against Illinois and No. 6 Louisville on Dec. 16 before closing nonconference play against Gardner-Webb on Dec. 21 and South Carolina State on Dec. 30.Vols associate head coach Justin Gainey stressed that Ament will continue to learn in each game as the Vols approach conference play, which they start at Arkansas on Jan. 3. He praised how Ament has played through the start of his college career and that he has confidence Ament will continue to develop because of how he takes ownership of his play.”He is a smart young man that absorbs things and is real with himself,” Gainey said. “He is continuing to grow. We are excited about his growth. Like all players, you are going to have ups and downs. You just have to bounce back from it and learn from it.”Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nate Ament’s next step for Tennessee basketball vs Illinois