Tennessee falls to top-seed Michigan in Elite Eight blowout
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Tennessee will have to wait at least another year to make the Final Four. The No. 6 seed Volunteers fell to top-seed Michigan in Sunday’s Midwest Regional final by a lopsided score of 95-62. For Rick Barnes’ squad, the 2025-26 squad ends in the Elite Eight.
Things started well for the upset-minded Vols. It was a tight game for the first 10 minutes before Michigan exploded for a 21-0 run and never looked back. Tennessee had a 16-14 lead at the 11:22 mark in the first half. UT didn’t score again until the 5:11 mark, finding itself down 35-18.
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Michigan widened the lead, as it was 48-26 at halftime. A second-half comeback wasn’t in the cards for the Vols on Sunday. The Wolverines led by as many as 34 points in the second half, as UM outscored UT 47-36 over the final 20 minutes.
It was a rough shooting day for the Vols, making only 32% of field-goal attempts to Michigan’s 52% shooting. UT was particularly poor from 3-point territory, making only 5-of-26 tries.
Tennessee freshman standout Nate Ament was held to just 7 points, shooting 2-of-12 from the field before fouling out with 2:16 to go. Ja’Kobi Gillespie was UT’s high scorer with 21 points, but needed a team-high 22 field-goal attempts, making only 8.
Michigan was once again led by star Yaxel Lendeborg with a game-high 27 points. The Wolverines had 5 players in double figures on the day.
The Volunteers finish the season 25-12, with their third consecutive trip to the Elite Eight. Tennessee was the last SEC team standing in the NCAA Tournament.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
