No. 4 Tennessee beats up No. 5 Duke, advances to Sweet Sixteen

ORLANDO — Tennessee was the afterthought. The team that came limping into the NCAA Tournament with seven losses in its last 13 games. Duke was the red-hot blue-blood, winners of 10 straight and the no-brainer pick to advance out of Saturday afternoon’s second round game in the East Region.

But that’s what makes March mad. The Vols went from the underdog to the bullying bruiser on defense and went shot-for-shot with the mighty Blue Devils on offense.

Final score: Tennessee 65, Duke 52.

The Vols march on to Thursday’s East Regional semifinal against either No. 9 Florida Atlantic or No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson. FAU beat No. 8 Memphis on a layup with 2.5 seconds left Friday night, after FDU stunned No. 1-seed Purdue.

Olivier Nkamhoua scored 27 points to lead Tennessee (25-10), including a run of 13 straight points capped by a 3-pointer with 3:54 left to give the Vols an 11-point lead, their biggest of the game at that point. Santiago Vescovi scored 14, Jonas Aidoo, the Durham, N.C., native, had eight points and five rebounds and Josiah-Jordan James scored seven.

Nkamhoua finished 10-for-13 from the field and went 3-for-4 at the 3-point line. It was only fitting that Nkamhoua hammered the final nail in the coffin, grabbing a James miss with one hand and slamming it home with 75 seconds left. He added two free throws with 48 seconds left, too.

Duke (27-9) got 16 from Tyrese Proctor, 13 from a foul-ridden Jeremy Roach and 13 from a bloodied Kyle Filipowski.

Tennessee extended its six-point halftime lead to nine on a Josiah-Jordan James 3-pointer to open the second half, but Duke was back within four less than three minutes later when Uros Plavsic picked up his third foul on a Proctor 3-point attempt late in the shot clock.

It was back to a two-point game a possession later, after a Proctor drive and finish in traffic to make it a 7-0 Duke run in less than two minutes. Nkamhoua answered on the other end with a three-point play, after Roach was called for his fourth foul at the 15:02 mark.

Vescovi splashed a three from the top of the key with 12:30 to go, getting the Tennessee lead back to eight, forcing a timeout from Duke coach Jon Scheyer. 

The timeout didn’t slow down Vescovi, who made another three on Tennessee’s first possession after the break.

Duke was back within four after a Proctor three and Filipowski dunk, but Nkamhoua answered with five straight, hitting a three of his own after a midrange jumper in the paint with just under nine left.

Vols built 27-21 halftime lead after going on 14-2 run

Tennessee closed the first half on a 9-0 run over the final 4:41 to take a 27-21 lead into halftime. It was a 14-2 run over the final 7:49 after Duke led 19-13 with 8:05 left in the opening half. 

Aidoo scored with three seconds left before the horn after Vescovi chased down an offensive rebound to stretch the lead to six, the biggest of the first half for either team.

Aidoo and Vescovi scored eight points each in the first half. Olivier Nkamhoua scored four and Key had a three. 

Tennessee shot 33.3 percent from the field in the first half and 30.0 percent from the 3-point line. The Vols suffocated Duke on the defensive end, scoring 12 points off of 11 Blue Devil turnovers, while Tennessee committed just five.

Dariq Whitehead had eight points in the first half and Jeremy Roach scored six, but Roach picked up his third foul with 1:02 left in the first half, just moments after Dereck Lively II picked up his second foul.