A Historic Season Ends: RedHawks Have No Answer For Tennessee Size, Strength And Ja’Kobi Gillespie, 78-56

PHILADELPHIA — An unforgettable season had a forgettable ending.

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 run of No. 11 Miami (Ohio), 78-56, in a Midwest Region first round game Friday in Philadelphia.

Felix Okpara added 12 points and five rebounds for Tennessee (23-11), which advances to Sunday’s second round to take on No. 3 Virginia, which rallied in the second half to beat No. 14 Wright State, 82-73, in the first game Friday.

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 their final three games after setting a school and Mid-American Conference record with a 31-0 undefeated regular season. Miami, which entered with the second-leading scoring offense in the nation (90.6 points per game), could never get its offense into gear.

It was Miami’s first loss to a non-MAC team since Dec. 18, 2024, when they fell 75-67 at Vermont. Tennessee won its first-ever NCAA tournament game in Pennsylvania after 59 games outside the Keystone State.

After Miami hit their first four shots from the field and five of their first six, Tennessee dominated every facet of the game in running up a 20-point lead twice.

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, giving Tennessee a 51-32 halftime lead. Miami would get no closer than 17 points in the second half.

Tennessee shot a blistering 54.3% from the field, knocking down 19-of-35 shots, including 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 and draining 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.