DETROIT — Tennessee is on to the Elite 8 after beating Creighton in the Sweet 16 on Friday night inside the Little Cesar's Arena by a final score of 82-75.
UT will play Purdue for the second time this season on Sunday. That tip-off is at 2:20 pm. If the Vols win, it would be their first appearance in the Final Four in program history.
The Vols were without starting guard Santiago Vescovi, as he had to sit out with the flu. Jahmai Mashack started in his place.
In the early going, it was a mix of good Tennessee defense and Creighton finding open shots. The Vols forced four turnovers through the first 5:05, but let the Bluejays open on a few shots, which resulted in 60 percent shooting from the floor in that stretch. Creighton held a narrow 7-6 lead.
The Vols took the lead at 9-7 as Josiah-Jordan James knocked down his second three-pointer of the game. The Vols held a 14-12 lead at the second media timeout. Baylor Schiermann had 7 of the Bluejays' first 12 points.
Tennessee went on an over-five-minute stretch where they only allowed Creighton two points. However, they weren't able to muster a big lead and led 18-14 with 7:48 left in the first half.
Creighton was able to take a lead off a three-pointer at 27-26 as Steven Ashworth knocked one down. Dalton Knecht snatched the lead back with a three of his own to put UT back up 29-27. Ashworth reclaimed it for Creighton at 30-29 with another deep ball.
Schiermann then made a three-pointer for the Bluejays to put the Bluejays up 33-29 with 2:20 left in the first half.
Vols freshman guard Cameron Carr hit a big three-pointer to pull UT back to within one point. Zakai Zeigler made a jumper to regain the lead at 34-33. The Bluejays took the narrow lead into halftime though.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored on a dunk with 39 seconds left in the half, which was the final score by either team going into the break. Schiermann had 15 points at halftime for Creighton. Knecht led the Vols with ten points.
Tennessee trailed 39-37 early in the second half and then went on a huge 18-0 run to seize momentum. After the Vols tied the game 39-39, James made a turnaround jumper for the lead.
Then James came up with a big block that led to a Knecht layup. Knecht then came up with a steal, which led to a Mashack layup. After a timeout, Mashack came up with a block that led to Knecht scoring on a layup.
The Vols got another stop, then got an offensive rebound and Zeigler knocked down a three-pointer. Mashack then came up with another block and on the other end scored on a second chance layup after he got the rebound. After another stop, James drilled a three-pointer for a 55-39 lead to cap off the 18-0 run.
Creighton clawed back though. They went on a 20-7 run and all of a sudden were down 62-59 with 6:04 to go.
Knecht hit a big three-pointer to stop the Bluejays' momentum to put Tennessee up 65-59 with 5:39 left in the second half. Ashworth responded with a big three to trim the lead back down to three. Knecht responded right back with a deep ball to put Tennessee up 68-62.
With 1:44 to go and the Vols up 68-64, Tobe Awaka had a strong take to the basket, hit an and one and put UT up 71-64. The Vols got a stop and drew a foul, Zeigler missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Awaka got an offensive rebound.
James was fouled, and he made both free throws for the 73-64 lead. UT closed it out from there.
Tennessee advances to the Elite 8 for just the second time in program history. The other time was in the 2009-2010 season.
