Tennessee advances to the sweet 16

[++RobVOL 0]

 

Vols beat duke. While I'm surprised, I'll say I was wrong. Great game. Looking at the next matchup, Tennessee should be in the elite 8. Sometimes, it's who you play that dictates your success. Great job boys. 

 

 

 

 

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tennessee is headed to the Sweet 16 because it loves playing in "the mud."

That's the Vols' term for the tough, physical and sometimes ugly style of basketball they play. They don't apologize or make excuses for it. It's who they are.

"That's what we do," forward Olivier Nkamhoua said. "We're a tough, hard-nosed team. That's how we play everybody."

Duke coach Jon Scheyer talked about that on Friday heading into Saturday's second-round NCAA tournament matchup at Amway Center. But knowing it was coming didn't make it any easier, and the Vols battered the Blue Devils throughout their 65-52 victory.

"Knowing that they had a lot of freshmen, we knew that if we come in and apply more pressure and be tough and physical, then they would have to deal with it," Nkamhoua said. "What we were saying before the game the whole time is we were going to bring them into the mud with us and make them play a tough, hard-nosed game and see if they were ready for it."

They weren't.

The box score doesn't accurately portray just how physical things were. Duke forward Kyle Filipowski had to leave the game for a few moments in the first half after taking an elbow in the face from Tennessee forward Jonas Aidoo that left a mark on his left cheek that was still visible after the game.

[Vfllostng8rcntry 31]

They are jekyll and hyde. At their best they can beat anyone but at their worst......

[cowhampshirevol 84]

I didn't have them going this far. Playing with house $. Wish them the best