INDIANAPOLIS — Tennessee men's basketball fell in the round of 32 to Michigan on Saturday inside Gainbridge Arena by a final score of 76-68.
Their season has come to an end.
You can watch the teams and the coaches speak about the game below.
The Vols fell behind by 8 points early after the Wolverines started the game on a 10-2 run.
With the help of Jonais Aidoo, Josiah-Jordan James led the team back to keep it a close game, getting within 2 points a few times. Tennessee took its first lead at 18-17 with 9:36 left in the first half after Kennedy Chandler stole the ball then dunked it.
After James kept the boat afloat early, Chandler and Zakai Zeigler provided a spark to the offense to keep even with Michigan.
Santiago Vescovi scored for the first time to give Tennessee a 34-32 lead on a three-pointer with 2:10 left in the first half. Uros Plavsic dunked the ball and got fouled a little after that.
The Vols took a 37-32 lead into halftime.
Both teams traded buckets to start the second half. Plavsic and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield scored the first 8 points of the second half for the Vols through the first media timeout. Tennessee held a 1-point lead at 45-44 with 15:03 to go.
Michigan forward Hunter Dickinson was a problem all game and gave the Wolverines a lead at 50-49 after a made three-pointer. He finished with 27 points.
The Vols grabbed the lead back at 53-52 after a James layup, then again at 55-54 after Zeigler scored two points. Chandler then made two driving layups to get the Vols up 59-54.
Michigan fought back in this game and ended up retaking the lead. With 3:21 left in the game, Wolverines guard Eli Brooks scored on a layup and was fouled. That gave Michigan a 65-62 lead.
Chandler scored a layup to trim the lead to 65-64 with 3:07 to go. Michigan made some free throws to extend the lead to 68-64 after that with 2:09 to go.
Vescovi hit a layup with 1:27 to go to make it a 2-point game. Brooks then scored for Michigan to extend the lead back to four with under a minute to go.
Tennessee was unable to score on its next possession. Michigan made some more free throws to make it a 6-point game.
John Fulkerson scored on a second-chance layup with 25 seconds to go, but the Vols never could really climb back in this one as the Wolverines made free throws to close out the game.
Chandler finished with 19 points and nine assists. James finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
The Vols finish the season 27-8 overall. They won the SEC Tournament championship for the first time since 1979.