Tennessee surges in second half, holds off Creighton; Purdue up next in Detroit final
Tony Paul
Detroit — Tennessee's season began in Michigan.
The Volunteers are doing their darndest to make sure it doesn't end here, too.
Tennessee went on an 18-0 run early in the second half, then held off a spirited and relentless comeback effort from Creighton before holding off the Bluejays, 82-75, in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 on Friday night before a raucous crowd of 18,574 at Little Caesars Arena.
Neither team had led by more than four points until Tennessee (27-8) exploded on offense coming out of halftime, only for Creighton (25-10) to put up a 20-7 response of its own.
Tennessee, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional, now will play No. 1 Purdue in the Elite Eight at 2:20 Sunday, with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
"It's a blessing just to be here," Tennessee fifth-year guard Josiah-Jordan James said. "We've put in so much work, for me five years, and every guy up here since they've been here. They're great leaders. This is the best group I've ever been around. Just to have this moment with these guys, making history. We're not done yet, we know that. We're so happy to be one step closer to our end goal.
"It's amazing to see all our hard work finally pay off."
Creighton, known for its 3-point shooting and dynamic offense, went more than 5 minutes without scoring during Tennessee's run in early in the second half. The stretch was so disastrous for Creighton, it included two timeouts from Bluejays head coach Greg McDermott.
The game was tied at 39 after fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht made a pair of free throws to start the run. He had six points during the surge, in which he also had four assists, two rebounds and a steal. Knecht finished with 26 points.
James drained a 3 from the corner to make it 55-39 with 13:59 left.
But Creighton kept up the fight, and got it all the back to within three points on a 3-pointer from senior guard Steven Ashworth, only to be answered right back by Knecht, who made it 68-62. A runner by Ashworth made it 68-04, Knecht then missed a shot on the other end, but Creighton turned it over on a controversial call. An out-of-bounds ball appeared to tip of a Tennessee player's fingers, but the call was ball to Tennessee.
BOX SCORE: Tennessee 82, Creighton 75
Then, with 1:38 remaining, Tennessee sophomore center Tobe Awaka, a reserve, put up a tough layup and drew the foul, making the free throw to put the Volunteers, 71-64. That sequence came off an offensive rebound grabbed by junior guard Jahmai Mashack, one of his team-high eight rebounds, and probably the biggest.
"Those extra possessions are huge, especially there at the end," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. "That was a big play for us. It was his effort getting on the glass."
Awaka then got a rebound off a Creighton miss on the other end, and the Bluejays were out of answers, or, more accurately, out of time.
Creighton junior guard Trey Alexander made a 3 with 10.7 seconds and Ashworth made one with less than 6 seconds left, but Tennessee made its free throws to ice it. Rocky top put the cherry on top.
Junior guard Zakai Zeigler had 18 points and 15 points and six assists for Tennessee, and James had 15 points. Knecht added eight assists.
"We just kept telling ourselves just to be relentless," Zeigler said. "We were saying that before the game, just keep being relentless. We understand that basketball is a game of runs, going to be ups, going to be downs. We went on our run, but going back to the huddle we just kept telling ourselves, 'Hey, we've got to stay within the game.' Get back on defense and do what we do. I felt like we did exactly that."
Creighton was led by senior guard Baylor Scheierman, who had 25 points, and Ashworth scored 16. points. Senior center Ryan Kalkbrenner had 14 point, and Alexander finished with 13 points and seven assists. Scheierman, Kalkbrenner and Alexander are the first trio of Creighton players to each score 600 in the same season.
"Disappointed in the loss," said Scheierman, "but more sad about the fact that I'll never be able to put on this Creighton uniform."
Creighton actually outshot Tennessee, 45%-42%, but 12 offensive rebounds led to 15 second-chance points for the Volunteers. They also had 10 points off turnovers to none for the Bluejays, and won the fastbreak battle, 18-5. Tennessee also matched Creighton, the nation's sixth-best 3-point-shooting team, with 11 made 3's. Tennessee also made 15 free throws, against a Creighton team that committed the fewest fouls in the nation (11.35) heading into Friday's game, but then was whistled for 17 on Friday.
The Volunteers, who began their season with an exhibition victory over Michigan State in East Lansing, earned their second-ever trip to the Elite Eight, and first since 2010.
It's Barnes' first trip to the Elite Eight since 2008, when he was with Texas.
"There's a lot of good people in this business, but you'd have a hard time finding one better than him," Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said of Barnes. "While I'm disappointed that this journey has come to an end, I'm excited for him and his program. He's a first-class person and coach. He's what's right about this business."
No. 3 Creighton, which led, 35-34, at the half, was looking for its second trip to the Elite Eight; it's first was in 2023.
Neither Creighton nor Tennessee has ever made a Final Four.
The Volunteers now get their chance to change that.
"It's anything to win, man. It's anything to win," said Mashack, who learned in shootaround Friday that he was going to start in place of injured fifth-year guard Santiago Vescovi. "I just love this team, and love how much we fought and how much we came together in times of adversity through that game.
"It just shows how much our character is going into play in this tournament."
@tonypaul1984