The 17th-ranked Tennessee basketball team rode a career day from an East Tennessee native to open a big week in Las Vegas.

The No. 20 Tennessee Volunteers face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a Players Era Festival matchup on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The Players Era Festival starts Monday in Las Vegas. It's an 18-team tournament (with a weird format) that pays schools millions of dollars to be there. How will the title game be decided? Will it ever be financially feasible? Is it responsible for the field of the 2025 Maui Invitational being ... lackluster?

No. 20 Tennessee sailed through the first three weeks of its schedule. The competition ratchets up a notch at this week's Players Era Men's Championship but the Volunteers are catching Rutgers at an ideal time.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 32 point and Nate Ament added 20 to help No. 20 Tennessee defeat Rutgers 85-60 in the first day of play at the Players Era tournament

Tennessee basketball hosts Tennessee State in a nonconference game at Food City Center on Nov. 20. Follow along for live updates.