Tennessee reaches its fourth straight Sweet 16, beating Virginia 79-72 in March Madness
Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 21 points, Nate Ament and Bishop Boswell played pivotal roles down the stretch and sixth-seeded Tennessee advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16, beating Virginia 79-72 in the NCAA Tournament.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 21 points, Nate Ament and Bishop Boswell made critical free throws down the stretch and sixth-seeded Tennessee advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16, beating Virginia 79-72 in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The Vols (24-11) will face No. 2 seed Iowa State in a Midwest Region semifinal in Chicago on Friday night.
A year after he helped Maryland reach the Sweet 16, Gillespie led the way for the Vols. Tennessee has been a consistent first-weekend winner under coach Rick Barnes, who has yet to lead the school to the Final Four. Gillespie had 50 points in two games in Philly — he scored 29 against Miami (Ohio) in the first round.
Against No. 3 seed Virginia, he made the shot of the game on a desperation 3-point heave as the shot clock expired and followed that with a tremendous lob pass for an alley-oop to J. P.
Estrella for a 62-53 lead. Yet Virginia — coming off its first NCAA Tournament win since its 2019 national championship — pushed the Vols to the limit over the final minutes. The Cavaliers (30-6) trailed by two points and seemingly wasted an opportunity when Jacari White shot two airballs on the same possession to give the Vols the ball with 2:12 left.