How Elite it is: Tennessee beats Creighton 82-75 to advance to the Elite Eight against Purdue

DETROIT — Say goodbye to Tennessee basketball’s tortuous history in the Sweet 16, at least for tonight. Say hello to the Elite Eight, where the second-seeded Vols are headed after an 82-75 win over No. 3 Creighton Friday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Dalton Knecht scored a team-high 24 points to lead Tennessee (27-8) and headed the charge on an 18-0 run that changed the game in the second half. Zakai Zeigler added 15 points, five assists and four rebounds and Josiah-Jordan James added 16 points as the Vols picked up just their second Sweet 16 win in program history.

Now No. 1 Purdue, after win 80-68 win over No. 5 Gonzaga in Friday’s early game, awaits on Sunday in the Midwest Regional final in a 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time start. The winner advances to the Final Four, where the Vols have never been and the Boilermakers have not been since 1980.

Creighton (25-10) got 25 points from Baylor Scheierman, 16 from Steven Ashworth, 14 points from Ryan Kalkbrenner and 13 from Trey Alexander.

Tennessee trailed 39-37 a minute into the second half before reeling off 18 straight points over a span of 4:58. The Vols went 6-for-8 from the field and held Creighton scoreless for over five minutes while building a 55-39 led with 13:59 to play. 

Creighton answered by making six of its next seven shots and was back within three points with six minutes to go after a 9-0 run of its own. Knecht ended the run with with threes at the 5:17 and 4:38 mark to go to get keep the lead at six.

A Tobe Awaka three-point play stretched the lead to seven with 1:39 left and James hit two free throws with 1:12 left to make it a 73-64 lead.

Knecht, Zeigler and James combined for 23 points in first half

Tennessee trailed 35-34 at halftime after Knecht led the Vols with 10 and Scheierman scored 15 in the first half. Zeigler had seven and James scored six before the break. Jonas Aidoo had four points on 2-for-7 shooting and Jordan Gainey had two off the bench, going 2-for-2 with a pair of rebounds. 

The Vols went 5-for-10 from the 3-point line in the first half, after starting 1-for-21 and finishing 3-for-25 against Texas in the second round on Saturday in Charlotte. James hit two early threes Friday night and Knecht, Zeigler and freshman Cam Carr had the other three.

Creighton shot 44.8% from the field in the first half and went 6-for-14 at the 3-point line. Scheierman was 5-for-11 from the field, including 3-for-6 from the 3-point line, and Kalkbrenner had eight points and six rebounds before halftime. 

Vols played shorthanded without Santiago Vescovi (illness)

Santiago Vescovi was ruled out roughly 20 minutes before tipoff, missing the game due to illness. He didn’t practice Wednesday in Knoxville or Thursday in Detroit.

Vescovi has started all 34 games for Tennessee his season. He averages 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assist in 25.7 minutes per game. He’s Tennessee all-time leader in starts (144) and in the second-round win over Texas became the program’s all-time leader in steals with 212.

He went 1-for-4 from the field in the 62-58 win over the Longhorns, finishing with four rebounds and three steals in 20 minutes. 

Tennessee wins in Sweet 16 for just second time in program history

Tennessee improved to 2-8 in the Sweet 16 with the win over Creighton. The Vols beat Ohio State 76-73 in the Sweet 16 in 2010, advancing to the Elite Eight before losing to Michigan State by one point, coming up one win short of a Final Four berth. 

Zach Edey had 27 points and 14 rebounds in 38 minutes to lead No. 1 Purdue in its win over Gonzaga on Friday. Braden Smith scored 14, Lance Jones had 12 and Fletcher Loyer added 10. 

Tennessee lost 71-67 against Purdue on November 22 in the Maui Invitational in Hawaii. Loyer scored 27 in the win and Edey had 23 and 10. Knecht had 16 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes and Jordan Gainey had 15 points in 25 minutes off the bench.

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