PHILADELPHIA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia came out ready to match Tennessee’s size and physical play in Sunday night’s NCAA Tournament second round game. It just didn’t have an answer for Volunteer stars Nate Ament and Ja’Kobie Gillespie.

That duo combined for 37 points and Tennessee fought UVA off down the stretch, winning 79-72 and advancing to the Sweet 16.

“Rarely does it end the way any of us want it to end,” Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “It was a good game and our guys fought and fought and fought. Had a chance there at the end when we took the lead but it wasn’t meant to be.”

The Cavaliers got 22 points from Thijs DeRidder and ended Odom’s first season leading the program with a 30-6 mark.

Odom’s memorable first season coaching Virginia ended with a memorable, but ultimately disappointing rally.

”We found a way to get it done,” UT coach Rick Barnes said after guiding his team to the second weekend of the tournament for the fourth straight year.

Gillespie finished with 21 points and six assists and Ament scored 16. Bishop Boswell had 13 points with nine assists and no turnovers.

Dallin Hall led a furious surge in the final minutes. The player teammates call “Captain America” was “Captain Clutch,” scoring a pair of driving layups and an assist during a 9-3 lead that saw UVA trim Tennessee’s lead to 66-64 with 5:23 to play. 

DeRidder fought for a rebound, drew a foul and knocked down two free throws to tie the game 66-66 with 4:41 left.

A DeRidder basket inside tied the game again, 68-68. 

Leading 70-68 with 2:11 left, Tennessee threw the ball away on an inbounds play. Hall drove in, then swung the ball out to DeRidder, who knocked down a 3 to put UVA ahead 71-70. 

Tennessee led 73-71 when Hall found Jacari White on a backdoor cut. 

But White’s driving, reverse layup didn’t fall and the ball went out of bounds off of Hall.

Gillespie sank a pair of free throws with 26.4 left, sinking Virginia’s hopes.

”It’s really painful that it ended like this,” DeRidder said.

Malik Thomas had 12 points in his final game at UVA. Fellow senior Jacari White and freshman Chance Mallory each added 10.

Hall finished with seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists, against just one turnover, much of that coming during UVA’s late rally.

“We started making really good decisions and finding shooters and guys stepped up and hit really big shots,” Hall said. “They’re really good defensively and did a good job of taking some things away from us. We had a lot of guys who stepped up all year and they responded in that big moment.”

Tennessee led 36-31 at the break after a ruthlessly efficient first half that saw it assist on 13 of its 15 made baskets, commit just one turnover and go 5 for 10 from 3-point range. 

Two days after setting a program record by knocking down 13 3-pointers in the first round against Wright State, the Cavaliers got off to a slow shooting start.

UVA hit just one of its first six looks from beyond the arc before an Ugo Onyenso block led to a transition 3 for Hall, cutting Tennessee’s lead to 12-11 with 14:23 left before the break.

That started a stretch where the Cavaliers knocked down four of five 3-point tries, two by Jacari White, to take a 17-14 lead.

But the Volunteers responded, using a 12-0 run to take a 28-20 lead. 

In a town famous for Rocky, the Broad Street bullies and crowds so rough they notoriously once booed Santa Claus, Virginia showed no lack of fight, punching back in a dramatic second half.

Down by five at the half, UVA followed their leader, Hall, to set up the thrilling finish. 

The loss ended a resurgent season for the Virginia program under Odom.

UVA fought its way past Wright State on Friday, notching its first NCAA Tournament win since cutting down the nets in Minneapolis after winning the 2019 national championship. 

Tennessee handled Miami of Ohio 78-56 to reach the second round. 

The teams met last season in November in the Bahamas but the stark difference in rosters from that game to this NCAA matchup – especially at Virginia – underscored how little continuity there is in college basketball in the NIL era. 

No one who played for the Cavaliers in that 64-42 Volunteers’ win remains with the program, and just two Tennessee players who scored that day – Felix Okpara and Bishop Boswell – returned this season. 

Odom rebuilt the Virginia roster, in short order, with transfers and a pair of international imports. He guided the new ‘Hoos to a second-place finish in the ACC, a league title game appearance and the end of a three-game NCAA tournament losing streak.