PHILADELPHIA, PA. – Tennessee was not ready for the season to end, and in the final minutes, it showed.
With its season on the line and momentum slipping away late, Tennessee responded with toughness and composure to close out a 79-72 win over Virginia. A victory that returns Tennessee to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season.
“We don’t want this to be our last game together,” JP Estrella said. “We want to play another 40 minutes of basketball with each other.”
That urgency defined the closing stretch.
After building a second-half lead, Tennessee saw Virginia surge back with a 9-3 run to get it within two and then a layup and tie the game at 68.
Collapses on defense forced the Volunteers into all too familiar feeling, another tight finish.
This time would be different.
In the huddles, the message was simple. Stay tough and finish.
“We’re dogs,” Estrella said. “We feel like we’re the best defensive team in the country. I feel like we got stops when we needed them and we finished.”
Tennessee delivered when it mattered most.
Estrella secured the game’s final defensive rebound, holding the ball as time expired before tossing it to his mother in the stands.
“Fe (Felix Okpara) told me to just hold the ball,” Estrella said. “I saw my mom and I just took it to her. So, cool little moment.”
He later called it “super priceless.”
The moment reflected what players described as the driving force behind the win, a bond that made the idea of the season ending unacceptable.
“It’s hard not to,” Bishop Boswell said. “We’re having too much fun just being with each other right now. Didn’t want it to end.”
Boswell, who turned in a career-best shooting performance from three-point range, said the team’s experience in close games throughout the season helped it respond late.
“We’ve been in these situations time and time again,” Boswell said. “The SEC is so tough. You’re going to be in a bunch of close games, and we’ve learned from both wins and losses.”
That experience showed in the final minutes.
After Virginia erased the deficit, Tennessee regained control with key defensive stops and late execution at the free-throw line.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie made all six free throws on three trips to the line in the final 26 seconds of the game.
Felix Okpara said the difference came down to mindset.
“We wanted it more,” Okpara said. “We just collectively as a group put our foot down and said we don’t want to go home.”
For Tennessee, advancing was about more than the result. It was about extending a season and a shared experience the group was not ready to leave behind.
“I still want to keep playing with this team,” Okpara said. “Fun group of guys to be around, on and off the court.”
Now, with another Sweet 16 appearance secured, the Volunteers move forward with the same motivation that carried them through the final minutes.
“I want that Elite Eight,” Estrella said. “We’ve got to go get it.”
Tennessee meets Iowa State in Chicago for a 10:10 p.m. tipoff on Friday, March 27.
