ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Olivier Nkamhoua was a minimal hesitant to enter Tennessee’s postgame locker home right after a career general performance from powerhouse Duke in the NCAA Tournament. So Uros Plavsic picked him up and shipped him to teammates ready to douse him with h2o.
It was a fitting payback thinking about Nkamhoua experienced carried the Volunteers significantly of the afternoon.
Nkamhoua tied his career large with 27 details, which include 13 straight for Tennessee through a decisive extend in the 2nd fifty percent, and the fourth-seeded Volunteers bullied Duke 65-52 on Saturday to progress to the Sweet 16 for the first time considering that 2019.
“We’re a tricky, hard-nosed team,” Nkamhoua stated. “That’s how we perform everyone. But understanding they experienced a great deal of freshmen, we understood that if we appear in and use additional tension and be challenging and physical, then they would have to offer with it.
“What we were being expressing prior to the sport is we had been likely to provide them into the mud with us and make them play a difficult, difficult-nosed match and see if they ended up prepared for it.”
They weren’t, and Tennessee’s expertise – the Vols commence four seniors – proved much too a lot for Duke’s hugely touted freshmen.
Santiago Vescovi included 14 details and 5 assists for Tennessee (25-10), which ended Duke’s 10-recreation profitable streak and sent first-12 months mentor Jon Scheyer – charged with replacing Mike Krzyzewski – household soon after just two NCAA Tournament video games. Not guaranteed Mentor K could have performed anything at all distinctive to fight these Vols, who used a level of “bully ball” to send out the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (27-9) packing.
“We experience we’re at our greatest when we can do that,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes reported.
Nkamhoua manufactured 10 of 13 photographs and place an exclamation mark on Tennessee’s victory with an emphatic slam with 1:15 remaining. It prompted Vols supporters to start out chanting and sent Duke admirers scrambling for the the exits.
“You have to actually work for everything in a sport like this,” claimed Scheyer, whose team turned the ball more than 15 times and made just 6 of 22 from 3-issue assortment. “You have to function to get open.”
Tennessee superior to confront Florida Atlantic or Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday at Madison Square Back garden in New York Metropolis.
Duke did not take care of Tennessee’s imposing model quite perfectly all afternoon. The Volunteers set the tone early, clearly seeking to press all around Kyle Filipowski and get their palms in the faces of guards Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor.
Vols large gentleman Uros Plavsic picked up two offensive fouls in the 1st four minutes, the two likely versus Filipowski. Duke’s 7-footer later on took an elbow to his facial area and finished up with a modest minimize beneath his still left eye.
Proctor struggled to inbound the ball several moments, acquiring a five-second simply call, turning it about when and nearly giving it up once more. Roach experienced even a lot more issues, buying up up his fourth foul with 15 minutes remaining and ending with five turnovers.
“We prepare for a dogfight just about every activity,” Nkamhoua said. “When we get folks enjoying our activity, it just guarantees that we’re likely to be in our factor.”
It aided that the Vols took a lot improved treatment of the ball than they did in their initially-spherical victory towards Louisiana-Lafayette. They turned it over just 9 moments, fifty percent as many as they did Thursday and their fewest because place guard Zakai Zeigler sustained a period-ending knee injury very last thirty day period.
Proctor led Duke with 16 factors and 6 helps. Roach and Filipowski chipped in 13 factors apiece. Dereck Lively II was scoreless but experienced 11 rebounds and two blocks.
“I considered we ran out of gasoline down the extend,” Scheyer stated.
Huge Photo
Duke: The Blue Devils performed with no 6-foot-8, 220-pound ahead Mark Mitchell, who was a late scratch since of a knee personal injury. It’s not likely Mitchell would have created a distinction, but he definitely would have served down minimal towards the Vols.
Tennessee: The Vols stumbled into the tournament obtaining misplaced 6 of 10, but now they have a successful streak and have obviously re-set up their identity as a massive, actual physical, deep, defensive-minded team able of offering anybody fits.
UP Future
Duke: The Blue Devils flip their interest to what takes place with their talent-laden workforce and the NBA. All eyes will be on freshmen Dereck Lively II, Filipowski and Proctor and their pending conclusions.
