Tennessee handles Duke
ORLANDO, Fla. – A game that started on an ominous note only got worse for Duke.
It spelled the end of the season, with Tennessee’s 65-52 win over the Blue Devils in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday at the Amway Center.
Fourth-seeded Tennessee (25-10) advances to the Sweet 16 of the East Region, where it’ll face the winner between Fairleigh Dickinson and Florida Atlantic.
Duke (27-9) saw an end to both a 10-game winning streak and its season.
The ominous start came when starting lineups were announced. Freshman forward Mark Mitchell tweaked a knee in practice on Friday and did not play. He was listed on the starting lineup before the game, but Dariq Whitehead started in his place.
Mitchell had started every game this season. Duke missed his slashing ability and physicality, and most of all his defense, with Tennessee forward Olivier Nkamhoua pumping in 27 points; 23 of those in the second half, and 13 straight Vols points in one stretch.
The Blue Devils trailed by six at halftime and cut the deficit to two early in the second half, and four around the midway point, but never led after the 4:54 mark of the first half.
Duke’s charge came early in the second half, after Josiah-Jordan James hit a 3-pointer on the first possession to give Tennessee a 30-21 lead.
The Blue Devils went on a 10-2 run, getting five points apiece from guards Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor.
The problem was what came next.
Roach picked up his third foul in the last minute of the first half, and then was whistled for his fourth at the 15:01 mark of the second half. With him on the bench, Tennessee reestablished an eight-point lead, pushing it to nine a couple of times in the following minutes.
The Vols cruised behind Nkamhoua and Santiago Vescovi, who had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The game-within-a-game element of this element started right away and had everything to do with foul calls.
Kyle Filipowski drew two quick fouls on Tennessee center Uros Plavsic under the Vols’ basket. Filipowski paid the price shortly after taking a shot to his face, bloodying an area under his left eye.
Six of the 16 fouls in the first half were offensive, not including a couple of loose-ball calls.
Duke’s lead was 19-13 through the rock fight when Filipowski made a bucket with 8:05 left until halftime. The Blue Devils only had one field goal for the rest of the half, with Tennessee closing on a 14-2 run to enter halftime.
The start of the game was pushed back to 3 p.m. (originally was 2:40) because the early game at this site, San Diego State beating Furman 75-52, went a little long.