No. 6 Tennessee, No. 3 Virginia Collide for Round of 32 Shootout. Sweet 16 on the Line.

PHILADELPHIA - Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie put on one of the most complete performances in NCAA Tournament history Friday afternoon. Now the Volunteers must follow his lead and do it again. This time it will be against a Virginia program that may be the hottest team in the country.

The No. 6 seed from the Midwest bracket is Tennessee (23-11) and the  No. 3 seed is Virginia (30-5). They tip off Sunday at Xfinity Mobile Arena at 6:10 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on TNT with Andrew Catalon on play-by-play, Steve Lappas as analyst and Evan Washburn reporting from the sideline.  

Tennessee is riding Gillespie’s brilliance. Gillespie dropped a game-high 29 points in Tennessee’s dominant first-round win, tied for the third-best total ever by a Volunteer in the NCAA Tournament.  

Did Gillepsie want to get 30 with the attempted dunk? Yes he did. Coach Barnes joked with Kobi in the post game that he knew the guard was not good enough to make that dunk. It didn’t stop him from trying to finish with a 30 piece. 

The senior guard was nearly flawless, going 11-for-21 from the floor and connecting on six of 11 three-point attempts. Gillespie is just the ninth player in history to tally 29 points, nine assists and three steals in a single NCAA Tournament game. It is the first from the SEC and only the second in the past 30 seasons. 

Estrella on his teammate:  “When he starts making shots, he’s unstoppable to guard him. When we get him in a flow, there’s nothing teams can really do about him.” 

He didn’t do it alone. Redshirt sophomore J.P. Estrella recorded 14 points and a game-best 10 rebounds for his fifth collegiate double-double, while senior forward Felix Okpara totaled 12 points, making all five of his field-goal attempts and both free throws. 

The Vols made 12 of their first 19 shots to open the game, including long threes and 20 quick points in the paint, building a lead they would never relinquish.  Tennessee has been a top-six seed in all eight of its NCAA Tournament appearances under head coach Rick Barnes,  and the program’s institutional March comfort cannot be overstated.

Still, the Volunteers enter Sunday with 

something to prove. Tennessee lost four of six games to close the regular season  before seemingly flipping a switch in Philadelphia.

Virginia is no less dangerous. First-year head coach Ryan Odom has guided the Cavaliers to a remarkable turnaround after the program finished 15-16 a year ago.  Odom’s 29 wins rank second for a first-year head coach in the ACC, behind only North Carolina’s Bill Guthridge, who won 34 in 1998. 

The Cavaliers survived a first-half scare against Wright State on Friday before pulling away for an 82-73 victory, and they were carried by an unexpected hero. It was another stellar lead from Guard play.  Jacari White shot 10-for-12 from the field, including 6-for-8 from three-point range, finishing with 26 points in what amounted to one of the most efficient performances of the tournament’s opening weekend. 

White set a UVA record earlier this season with 12 consecutive made three-pointers over a three-game stretch,  and his hot hand figures to be a focal point of Sunday’s game plan.

Seven different Cavaliers have led the team in scoring at various points this season, a testament to the depth and balance Odom has built with a roster featuring 12 newcomers.  

Tennessee’s paint dominance vs. Virginia’s perimeter game

 The Volunteers scored 40 points in the paint against Miami (OH) and shot an efficient 52.5 percent from the field. Virginia, by contrast, leaned heavily on the three-ball Friday, connecting on 13 of 26 attempts for exactly 50 percent. How those two stylistic identities collide in the front court will go a long way toward determining the winner.

Experience vs. Hunger

 Sunday will mark the fifth straight season that Tennessee is playing in the Round of 32.  Virginia, meanwhile, features a roster where most players are experiencing the NCAA Tournament for the first time.  

Whether the Cavaliers’ freshness translates to energy or vulnerability under the lights is the central narrative of the game.

KenPom projects Tennessee to win 70-69 and gives the Volunteers a 51% chance of advancing,  making this as close to a coin flip as the metrics can produce. A Sweet 16 berth awaits the winner, and on paper, neither team has done enough to clearly separate itself.

Coach Barnes told the team on Friday: “We’ve won one. We’ve got one more to go.” 

This one dance at a time mindset may just be locking in at the right time.  This is precisely the kind of second-round game that defines NCAA brackets. The winner advances to face the winner of Iowa State vs. Kentucky in the regional.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Sweetness is so close, the Vols can taste it.