Tennessee’s recent reputation as an Elite Eight program in the NCAA tournament continues to have only one downside.
The Volunteers still can’t get to the Final Four.
Tennessee’s latest attempt to go where it has never gone before in men’s basketball was abruptly dashed Sunday afternoon by Michigan’s 21-0 surge midway through the first half that propelled the Midwest Regional’s top-seeded Wolverines to a 95-62 thrashing of the sixth-seeded Vols inside Chicago’s United Center. This was Tennessee’s third consecutive trip to the Elite Eight and its third straight loss to a regional top seed, with Purdue in 2024 and Houston last season sending the Vols home.
“We’re obviously disappointed, and we think we’re better than what we showed today,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said afterward in a press conference. “The game was where we wanted to have it in those first eight or 10 minutes, but then we picked up five quick fouls, and it got away from us. Give them a lot of credit, but I’m just so proud of our guys.
“They’ve had a phenomenal year, but when you get to this point and you don’t move on, it’s extremely disappointing, especially when you know that you weren’t at your best.”
Tennessee finished its 11th season under Barnes with a 25-12 record, having set a new program standard with five consecutive 25-win seasons, while Michigan improved to 35-3 and will play West Regional top seed Arizona (36-2) in a national semifinal Saturday night in Indianapolis.
The Vols have won 34 NCAA tournament games without a Final Four appearance, the most of any Division I men’s program. They are 15-8 in NCAA tournament contests under Barnes, including a stellar 11-4 record over the past four seasons.
“I’m just unbelievably proud of this team, because we’ve gone through a lot, and they stuck together to get us to this point,” Barnes said. “There are 50-something teams that would have loved to have been here today, even where we are now after a loss. I’m proud of our effort, but we want more.
“There is no doubt we want more. We want to break through this thing, but you’ve got to get here first.”
When asked if he was 100% committed to coming back to coach Tennessee, the 71-year-old Barnes said, “I am. I am.”
The Vols held a 16-14 lead nearing the midway mark of the half, but problems had surfaced due to Felix Okpara, Jaylen Carey and DeWayne Brown II each having two fouls. Brown was the third of Tennessee’s inside players to receive his second foul, which resulted in Barnes inserting Okpara back in the game.
Okpara didn’t last long on the floor, however, as Yaxel Lendeborg drove in for a layup and drew a foul on the former Hamilton Heights standout, with the three-point play putting Michigan up 22-16 at the 9:19 mark. Roddy Gayle, Elliott Cadeau and Lendeborg connected on 3-pointers as 22-16 soon became 33-16, and Nimari Burnett’s layup made it 35-16 with 6:10 before halftime, forcing Barnes to call a timeout.
“They were just getting out in transition,” Vols senior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie said. “We weren’t getting back, and they were making shots.”
The Wolverines took their largest lead of the half at 48-26 on Trey McKenney’s 3 with three seconds remaining.
The Vols had 11 offensive rebounds and five turnovers in the first 20 minutes, which were both desirable numbers, but they shot 9-of-38 (23.7%) from the floor and made half of their 10 free throws. The first half contained 22 fouls, with 13 of them going against Tennessee.
Any hopes of the Vols putting a dent into their deficit early in the second half were dashed by a 3-pointer from Michigan 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara that made it 55-28.
“Offensively, we needed to make some shots,” Barnes said. “I also wanted our post guys to touch it a little more. We knew they were an outstanding transition team and that they’re really good at those corner 3s, but you’ve got to make some shots, too.
“Again, those first eight to 10 minutes were exactly like we wanted it, but our misses led to their transition game.”
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Lendeborg was the best player on the floor and led five Wolverines in double figures with 27 points.
Gillespie scored 21 points in his final game with the Vols, and he also racked up four rebounds and six assists while committing no turnovers. Okpara had 10 points and seven rebounds in his college finale, while the expected finale for five-star freshman forward Nate Ament contained seven points on 2-of-12 shooting, six rebounds and five fouls.
“They had a lot of guys today who played good basketball and had good days, and it’s hard when one or two of your guys are off,” Barnes said. “At this time of year, your players have to step up. We’re a very talented team, but some teams have a little more room for error than others.
“We’ve seen that there are a lot of different ways to get to this point, but if you want to break through, you’ve got to get here first and put yourself in position to do that. Our goal will be to get back here and keep kicking and hope we can knock the door down.”
Hurst selected
Former Cleveland High School standout Grant Hurst was selected along with Gillespie and Okpara to represent the Vols in the postgame press conference.
“My two years prior to this one, we had great leadership,” Hurst said, “and my role was to bring the intensity that those before me brought — Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi, Zakai Zeigler, Jahmai Mashack and Jordan Gainey. Those guys all went out the door in my first two years, so it was easy to model that after seeing such great examples.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.