PHILADELPHIA — Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 22 of his 29 points in the first half and J.P. Estrella added 14 points and 10 rebounds as No. 6 Tennessee ended the magical season for No. 11 Miami (Ohio), 78-56, in a Midwest Region first-round game on Friday afternoon.
Felix Okpara added 12 points and five rebounds for Tennessee (23-11), which advanced to Sunday’s second round against No. 3 Virginia. The Cavaliers rallied in the second half to beat No. 14 Wright State, 82-73, in Friday’s first game.
Tennessee proved to be the bigger and stronger team, outrebounding Miami, 42-25.
Peter Suder scored 27 as the only player in double figures for Miami (32-2), which dropped two of its final three games after setting a school and Mid-American Conference record with a 31-0 undefeated regular season.
It was the RedHawks’ first loss to a non-MAC team since Dec. 18, 2024, when they fell 75-67 at Vermont. Tennessee won its first NCAA tournament game in Pennsylvania after 59 games outside the Keystone State.
Miami entered with the second-leading scoring offense in the nation (90.6 points per game), but could never find consistent offense after an initial flurry. After the RedHawks hit five of their first six shots to take a 13-10 lead in the first four minutes, Tennessee dominated every facet of the game to seize a 43-23 lead on Estrella’s short hook with 2:41 left in the first.
Symbolic of the way things went for both teams in the opening 20 minutes, Ethan Burg’s deep 3-pointer from the right side hit the front rim, bounced off the back and fell through as time expired to give Tennessee a 51-32 halftime lead. Miami got no closer than 17 points in the second half.
Tennessee shot a blistering 54.3% from the field in the field, which included 8 of 13 from beyond the arc. The Volunteers also dominated inside, outscoring the RedHawks 20-6 in the paint.
Leading the way in the first half was Gillespie with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He drained five of his six attempts from long range.
Suder had 16 points in the first half, more than doubling his output from Wednesday night’s win over SMU. But Eian Elmer and Antwone Woolfolk were scoreless.
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
