How Tennessee used regular season blunders to fuel March Madness win vs Virginia

PHILADELPHIA − Maybe all those blown leads in the regular season were good for Tennessee basketball?

While it didn’t surrender a double-digit big lead, Tennessee fans certainly felt pangs of anxiety when Virginia pulled ahead late at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Advertisement

This time, though, instead of collapsing, the No. 6 Vols (24-11) banded together and pulled off the 79-72 victory over No. 3 Virginia (30-6) in the Men’s NCAA Tournament on March 22.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes guided the program to its fourth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. The road gets tougher for the Vols against No. 2 Iowa State (29-7) at the United Center in Chicago on March 27 (10:10 p.m. ET, TBS).

How did Tennessee avoid a meltdown? Well, Barnes isn’t really sure.

He just knows they won.

“We found a way,” he said. “We found a way to get it done. These guys, they’ve worked hard for us all year and worked hard competing against each other every day.”

1 / 5

Tennessee basketball vs Virginia March Madness, Nate Ament, Ja’Kobi Gillespie top photos

Mar 22, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Nate Ament (10) shoots the ball against the Virginia Cavaliers in the first half during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

1 / 5

Tennessee basketball vs Virginia March Madness, Nate Ament, Ja’Kobi Gillespie top photos

Mar 22, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Nate Ament (10) shoots the ball against the Virginia Cavaliers in the first half during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

2 / 5

Tennessee basketball vs Virginia March Madness, Nate Ament, Ja’Kobi Gillespie top photos

Mar 22, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Bishop Boswell (3) dribbles the ball against the Virginia Cavaliers in the first half during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit:…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/tennessee-used-regular-season-blunders-035342509.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-03-23 03:53:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.