PHILADELPHIA -- Tennessee senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie made school history in helping the Volunteers overcome a late scare from Virginia and punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 with a 79-72 win Sunday.
With a 21-point, six-assist performance, Gillespie became the first player in program history to average 25 points through the first two games of the NCAA tournament. His clutch free throws down the stretch stabilized a group that made some unforced errors in the closing minutes, allowing Virginia to briefly take the lead and igniting what was largely a pro-Cavaliers crowd in South Philly.
His backcourt mate, Bishop Boswell, sank four 3-pointers and added nine assists. Standout freshman Nate Ament, who has been dealing with an ankle injury since February and was held scoreless in Tennessee's opener against Miami (Ohio), posted 16 points to help the effort.
"I wanted to do it for my teammates and this university," said Ament, who was visibly in discomfort following several of his drives. "I owe them so much. The least I could do is fight through this."
It wasn't all pretty.
Ament was whistled for illegally moving along the baseline during an inbounds pass with about two minutes remaining. Virginia capitalized with a bucket to tie the game. Moments later, Gillespie misfired on a pass to Ament, and again the Cavaliers made them pay, this time courtesy of a Thijs De Ridder 3-pointer that put Virginia ahead.
The Cavaliers couldn't cash in on subsequent trips, though, and Gillespie (6-of-6 on free throws) was clutch from the stripe to seal it.
Gillespie finished with a game-high 22 points. He also had 29 against Miami (Ohio). He became the first Virginia player with 20-plus points and five-plus rebounds in an NCAA tournament game since De'Andre Hunter in the 2019 NCAA championship game.
"I'm really proud of these guys," Vols coach Rick Barnes said. "We started the season with a lot of new guys, I think 11 new people on our team, and that's where it is today, I guess, in college basketball. They've worked hard for us from the get-go."
