WATCH: Grant Williams trolls Jayson Tatum after Tennessee beat Duke to advance to Sweet 16
It’s a banner day for Tennessee fans or anybody who can bask in the schadenfreude of Duke losing in the NCAA Tournament. And in the case of Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams, he’s both.
The former Tennessee star got to have a little fun at the expense of a Celtic teammate and former Duke star: Jayson Tatum. Either right after the Volunteers toppled the Blue Devils, 65-52, or in the late stages of the victory, Williams posted a quick video of a subdued Tatum.
“F*ck Duke,” Williams said in the video as it pans in on Tatum.
It appears for a moment that Tatum considered retorting before thinking better of it. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses. Instead, the All-Star wing just gives a playful nod.
A tough break for Tatum as Williams can claim bragging rights at least until Duke and Tennessee meet again.
And while Duke fans will throw their hands up and point out with rapidity that North Carolina didn’t make the NCAA Tournament all this, Tar Heel legend Tyler Hansbrough took his chance to take a shot at Duke, anyways.
Following a 65-52 win for the Volunteers, Hansbrough took to Twitter to locate the wound. His mission? Add salt. And he picked a pretty good visual.
Hansbrough’s captionless tweet is just a gif of the “I will give my all for Tennessee today” sign that football players touch heading to the field at Neyland Stadium.
And the loss was, above all else, a tough break for a Duke program that was playing as hot as any team in the country entering the NCAA Tournament.
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Especially given the on-court struggles Duke encountered. The Blue Devils scored a program-low 52 points in an NCAA Tournament game. Duke converted fewer than 50% of its field goal attempts and made just six 3s while shooting a paltry 27.3% beyond the arc.
And while Duke struggled to score, Tennessee’s Olivier Nkamhoua tied his career-high for scoring with 27 points.
“It’s what we do,” Nkamhoua said postgame. “We’ve been in these kinds of fights all year. We’ve lost some, we won some and we’ve weathered the storm all year.”
In the Sweet Sixteen, by virtue of Fairleigh Dickinson’s upset over No. 1 seed Purdue, Tennessee will play either the Knights or Florida Atlantic, dodging any potential matchup with a No. 1 seed.
Altogether, a day Duke and its fans will be happy to forget — and one Tennessee (and North Carolina) fans might savor a little extra.