By SCOTT FELTS
The 23rd ranked, No. 6 seed Tennessee Volunteers took on dynamite NCAA darling 11 seed Miami (Ohio) on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Friday.
The RedHawks were a popular Cinderella choice to make some noise in the NCAAs but the only sound uttered from Miami was an “I’m sorry” to all the bettors who put money on them to cover the 11.5 point spread. The Vols (23-11) thumped Miami (Ohio) (32-2) 78-56 and moved on to the round of 32 for the fifth straight year.
Let’s go Beyond the Box Score to find out what led to the Philly knockout.
The Great Gillespie: With Nate Ament still nursing his injured ankle and only playing 18 scoreless minutes, Vols point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie showed up to play on Friday. Gillespie led all scorers with 29 points on 11 of 21 shooting from the field, with nine assists, three rebounds, and three steals. Gillespie became just the ninth player in NCAA Tournament history to amass 29 points, nine assists, and three steals in one game, and the first Southeastern Conference player ever to do it.
Defense Ruled: Miami came in second in the country in scoring averaging 90 points per game, but the Vols managed to hold them to their lowest point total of the season on 35% shooting from the field. Tennessee scored 19 points off of 12 forced turnovers and outrebounded the RedHawks by a 42-25 margin.
Peter Peter, Point Eater: Senior Miami (OH) guard Peter Suder, the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, came in tied for the team lead in scoring at 14.4 points per game. On Friday he was the only RedHawk in double figures, as he scored 27 points on 7-for-12 shooting and made 9 of 10 free throws to go along with two rebounds and two assists.
Elmer Dudd: RedHawks forward Eian Elmer scored 23 points in the First Four to get his team this far, but he got shut down by Tennessee. Elmer didn’t score his first points until 4:30 was left in the game. He finished with four points, five rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
Big Lead, Big Comeback?: Tennessee has been up by double digits five times this season and allowed the opponents to come back and steal a win. The Vols built a 21-point first half lead and led by as many as 26 but this time even though the second half was more sloppy offensively (10 of their 16 turnovers were in the second half), they managed to keep the lead and ride it to victory.
Tripled Up: In their First Four game on Wednesday, the RedHawks made 16 of 41 3-pointers but on Friday, it was the Vols that outshot the Redhawks from 3. The Redhawks shot only 24% (7 of 29) beyond the arc while the Volunteers shot 45% (9 of 20).
Everything Went Right: Three Vols scored in double figures — Gillespie, Felix Okpara, and J.P. Estrella. Estrella also grabbed 10 rebounds for his fifth career double-double. Tennessee dominated points in the paint 40-16, dished 19 assists, and the shots even fell (7 ov 10) from the free throw line.
Up Next: With the win, the Vols move on to Sunday for a chance to go to their fourth straight Sweet 16 and will play No. 3 seed Virginia (30-5, 15-3), which beat 14th-seeded Wright State 82-73 earlier on Friday.
Tip Ins: These two teams had not met in over 26 years since a 1999 home win for the Volunteers, 78–59. …The Vols are 16-5 against current MAC schools, including a 3-0 mark in tournament play. … The loss today is the first for Miami (OH) to a non-MAC team since December 18, 2024. … Tennessee is 32-28 all time in the NCAA Tournament including 13–7 under Rick Barnes, who has led the Vols to more NCAA Tournament wins and appearances (8) than any other coach in program history. … This is the eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance for Tennessee, a program record, and the fourth longest active streak in the nation behind Michigan State (28), Gonzaga (27), and Purdue (11). … The other time, Tennessee was a 6 seed, they earned their first Elite Eight bid in program history in 2010.