Tennessee’s DeWayne Brown II (6) and Iowa State’s Dominykas Pleta (21) chase a loose ball during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2028, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
ANDREW SELIGMAN | Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — Getting to the Elite Eight is becoming an annual event for Tennessee. This time, the Volunteers hope to go another round or two.
Nate Ament scored 18 points, Ja’Kobi Gillespie finished with 16 and Tennessee beat Iowa State 76-62 on Friday night to advance to the regional finals for the third straight year.
Tennessee used a dominant effort on the glass and a strong second half to put away Iowa State (29-8) to advance to its third regional final in coach Rick Barnes’ 11 seasons. The Volunteers lost to Houston last year and to Purdue in 2024. Tennessee’s only other Elite Eight was under Bruce Pearl in 2010.
“We do have a standard on a lot of things, not just what we do on the basketball court,” Barnes said. “We’re pretty much a no-nonsense program. We talk about that through the recruiting process. We tell everyone it’s going to be tough. We want them to come. We want them to come, and really help them live their dreams. We’d like them to have a chance to play for a national championship.”
Barnes led Texas to a Final Four in 2003. But Tennessee has never been there.
The sixth-seeded Volunteers (25-11) have another big obstacle in their way, with top-seeded Michigan in the Midwest Region final on Sunday. The Wolverines beat Alabama 90-77 behind a dominant all-around performance by Yaxel Lendeborg.
Ament made three 3-pointers. Felix Okpara chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jaylen Carey added 11 points and 10 boards, and the Volunteers outrebounded the Cyclones 43-22.
“I’m just enjoying the process, being able to do it with these guys,” Okpara said. “We put in so much work in the summer. We love to see it pay off.”
Missing Joshua Jefferson.
The All-America forward was hurt minutes into the Cyclones’ March Madness opener against Tennessee State and did not play in their lopsided win over Kentucky. He averaged 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists.
“Just a really tough circumstance to deal with,” coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “We just wanted to make sure that Joshua felt supported and we did everything in our power to get him ready to be out there playing. It just wasn’t enough. He did all he could. He’s a fierce competitor. He couldn’t have done more treatments.”
Vols take control
Tennessee led 34-33 at halftime after Okpara hit two free throws in the closing seconds and Lipsey missed a driving layup at the buzzer.
The Volunteers were up 44-39 when they went on a 13-4 run that Carey punctuated with a three-point play off a tip-in. The 6-foot-8, 267-pound forward turned toward the roaring Vols fans and flexed before hitting the free throw to make it 57-43 with 11:47 remaining.
Iowa State Notes
Nate Heise went over 1,300 career points and corralled his 700th career board on the night.
Iowa State’s 2025-26 team became the first in school history to eclipse the 3,00 point mark. The Cyclones scored 3,033 points this season.
Killyan Toure tied teammate Milan Momcilovic for the most starts by a freshman in a season with 37.
Milan Momcilovic made six triples this NCAA postseason – the third-most by a Cyclone in an NCAA Tournament.
He has 98 NCAA Tournament points in his career.
He now has 19 3-pointers in the NCAA Tournament – tied for the most by any Cyclone.
Momcilovic finished with the 14th-most points in a single season in school history (624).
He tied Naz Mitrou-Long for the second-most 3-pointers in school history (260) and trails just Jake Sullivan (270).
Momcilovic hit a 3-pointer for the 22nd-straight game, the fifth-longest streak in school history.
With his one steal today, Tamin Lipsey set the ISU record for most steals in an NCAA Tournament with six.
Lipsey and Momcilovic both played in their second Sweet 16, increasing the list of Cyclones to do so to six.
Lipsey played in his ninth NCAA Tournament game, tied with Monté Morris and Matt Thomas for the most in school history.
He finished his career with 110 NCAA Tournament points – the fourth-most by any Cyclone.
He finished the year tied with Terry Woods (173) for 15th-most assists in a season by a Cyclone.
Lipsey finishes his career with the fourth-most assists in program history, behind just Diante Garrett, Jeff Hornacek and Monté Morris.
He eclipsed 600 total on the night.
He also finished 15th in school history in scoring, eclipsing 1,500 total points on the night and ending his career with 1,507.
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