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CHICAGO — Rapid reaction from sixth-seeded Tennessee’s 95-62 loss to No. 1 seed Michigan in a Men’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game March 29 at United Center:
That got out of hand fast
Well, Tennessee has been knocked out in the Elite Eight again, and much like last year’s loss to Houston, this was determined before halftime.
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After grappling through a tense start, Michigan began stretching its legs and flexing its muscles. When that happened, Tennessee offered no answer. You could call it another instance of the Vols crumbling on a big stage in March, but this was mostly just the Wolverines being that much better.
Michigan’s 21-0 run to seize control in the first half was domination. On both ends, too. The Vols’ offense went 6:11 without scoring, missing 10 field goals in a row at one point. Defensively, Tennessee couldn’t keep Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg from 15 of his game-high 27 points before intermission.
At halftime, Michigan led 48-26 and was shooting 51.7% (15 of 29) from the field, while Tennessee was at 23.7% (9 of 38). Meanwhile, Jaylen Carey was Tennessee’s leading scorer in the first half with eight points, which speaks to the offensive struggles of Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament, who were a combined 3-of-17 shooting in the first half.
This, suffice to say, was not the first half that underdog Tennessee needed to hang with a legit Final Four-caliber opponent like Michigan. It was the opposite, in fact.
Just not enough for UT
This was a physical game. Tennessee played hard, as usual, and foul totals were high on both ends.
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Unlike the Vols’ tournament wins to get here, Michigan was too strong and too skilled to be wrestled into a muddy game. And the Vols didn’t have enough offensively to keep up when Michigan kept beating the defensive pressure, scoring the most any foe has against UT this season.
Gillespie got going after halftime and finished with 21 points, but much of it was with the game already out of reach….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/michigan-makes-look-easy-elite-204821439.html
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Publish date : 2026-03-29 20:48:00
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