Virginia knocked out by Tennessee in NCAA second round, 79-72

By Scott Ratcliffe

The Virginia men’s basketball team saw its season come to an abrupt end on Sunday night in Philadelphia, as the Cavaliers were eliminated in a 79-72 upset loss to Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 3-seeded Wahoos conclude head coach Ryan Odom’s first campaign with a record of 30-6, while the sixth-seeded Volunteers (24-11) will advance to the Sweet Sixteen in Chicago next weekend.

Thijs De Ridder scored a game-high 22 points in what could be his final contest in a Cavalier uniform, connecting on 8 of his 14 field-goal attempts. The first-year Belgian forward sank 4 of 6 from 3-point range, doing all he could to keep the Hoos alive, but it ultimately wasn’t enough.

UVA trailed for the majority of the evening, but kept chipping away and eventually took a 71-70 lead on a De Ridder triple with two minutes remaining before the Vols rattled off seven unanswered points, taking advantage of a mixture of Cavalier miscues and controversial calls down the stretch.

After De Ridder’s big basket to put Virginia in front, Tennessee star freshman Nate Ament appeared to travel on the Volunteers’ ensuing possession, but instead drew a whistle and sank a pair of free throws to make it a 72-71 ballgame with 1:37 to play.

If you want even more award-winning coverage on the UVA athletics department, including its nationally-ranked football and basketball programs, be sure to subscribe to “Cavalier Exclusive” to follow all of Virginia Sports Hall Of Famer Jerry “Hootie” Ratcliffe’s analysis and content. It’s the best in the business for Wahoo Fans!

On the other end, UVA senior point guard Dallin Hall couldn’t get his shot to fall, and Tennessee grabbed the rebound and head coach Rick Barnes called for a timeout with 59.9 ticks remaining. Bishop Boswell split a pair at the charity stripe with 46.8 to go, giving Virginia an opportunity to tie or take the lead, but the ball went out of bounds and the call on the floor was that it was last touched by Hall.

Odom and his staff begged to differ and issued a coach’s challenge, but after a lengthy video review, the officials determined that the call stood, leaving the Hoos with just one timeout. The replay appeared to show the ball bouncing off of a Tennessee player’s head, and it looked like Hall managed to avoid making contact, as the ball did not seem to change trajectory or spin after coming close to his hand. However, the ball went back to the Vols with 28.2 on the clock.

UT’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie subsequently headed back to the foul line and hit two more freebies to extend the lead to four, 75-71, with 26.4 left.

Chance Mallory was able to get his defender in the air on a pump fake and drew contact on his way up, but wasn’t able to draw a foul nor get his shot to drop. The ball went out of bounds off of a Volunteer player underneath the basket, however, and on the ensuing inbounds pass, sharpshooter Jacari White got a wide-open 3-point look from the corner, but shot an airball, and Tennessee again secured the all-important rebound and drew another foul with 13.2 seconds to play, leading to two more Gillespie free throws to make it a six-point affair.

Mallory was then quickly fouled, to the dismay of Barnes, and went to the line with 11 ticks to go, but could only make one of two from the stripe to trim it to five, 77-72. The Hoos got the ball right back under their own hoop with 9.6 showing after a Volunteer turnover on the inbounds pass, and video review tacked on a few extra tenths of a second (10.2) to work with, but Hall gave it right back on a bad pass, and the Vols sealed the contest with two more from the line with 8.5 seconds left.

Virginia shot just 39 percent from the field (27 for 69), 34 percent from long distance (12 of 35) and 55 percent at the stripe (6 for 11). Tennessee outrebounded the Cavaliers, 39-35, and scored 9 points off of 7 UVA giveaways, while the Hoos forced 10 turnovers and scored a dozen points as a result.

Malik Thomas scored 12 points (4 for 10 FG; 3 of 7 from deep in just 15 minutes) in his final collegiate game, while fellow senior White, the hero of UVA’s opening-round win over Wright State on Friday, started off hot but finished with 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting (2 of 9 from 3-point land). Mallory was the only other Wahoo in double figures, adding 10 points, 6 rebounds and a pair of steals off the bench in the losing effort. Hall had 7 points to go along with 7 rebounds (5 offensive boards) and 7 assists, both team highs. Sam Lewis was 2 for 9 (1 of 5 from 3-point range) for 5 points.

Gillespie led the Vols with 21 points, with Ament (16 points), Boswell (13 and a game-high 9 assists), J.P. Estrella (10) and Jaylen Carey (10) also registering double figures, as Tennessee shot at a 47-percent clip (26 of 55) from the floor and 42 percent from downtown (8 of 19), knocking down 19 of 25 from the free-throw line. Felix Okpara added 7 points, 8 boards and a game-high 4 blocks. The Vols will face No. 2 seed Iowa State in the Midwest Region semifinals next week.

Michael Ingalls Photo Gallery

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia finished 30-6, recording its sixth 30-win season in school history
Head coach Ryan Odom joined Terry Holland and Tony Bennett to post 30-win seasons
UVA finished 14-5 away from home, including a 6-3 mark on neutral courts
Virginia is 9-17 all-time in Philadelphia, including a 2-2 in the NCAA Tournament
UVA finished 1-4 vs. ranked opponents in 2025-26
UVA went 12 of 35 from 3-point range
UVA made 10 of more 3-pointers in a school-record 22 games
UVA attempted 30 or more 3-pointers in 13 contests
UVA trailed at the half 36-31 (4-4 when trailing at halftime)
Tennessee used a 12-0 run to gain a 28-20 lead
UVA made seven consecutive field goals to cut the Tennessee margin to 66-64
Tennessee won the rebound battle 39-35
UVA owned a 24-12 advantage in bench points

All-Time in the NCAA Tournament

The Cavaliers are 36-26 all-time in 27 NCAA Tournament appearances
UVA is 10-6 in the NCAA round of 32
UVA made its first NCAA Tournament appearance under first-year head coach Ryan Odom
UVA earned its first No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament
UVA won the NCAA championship in 2019 and also made Final Four appearances in 1981 and 1984
Odom is 4-5 in five NCAA tournaments as a head coach (2-1 at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne, 1-1 at UMBC, 0-1 at Utah State, 0-1 at VCU and 1-1 at UVA)

Series Notes

The Cavaliers own an 8-7 advantage over the Volunteers in the all-time series that dates back to 1917
Tennessee has a three-game win streak in the series
UVA is 3-3 against Tennessee on neutral courts
UVA is 2-2 vs. Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament

Player Notes

Double Figure Scorers: Thijs De Ridder (22), Malik Thomas (12), Jacari White (10), Chance Mallory (10)
De Ridder netted his 12 20-point game, most since Malcolm Brogdon’s 18 in 2015-16
De Ridder has reached double figures in 28 games
De Ridder made a career-high four 3-pointers
De Ridder (4 3-pointers) has multiple 3-pointers in 10 games
Thomas has reached double figures in 27 games (82 career)
Thomas (3 3-pointers) has multiple 3-pointers in 19 games
White (2 3-pointers) has multiple 3-pointers in 19 games
White has reached double figures in 14 games (65 career)
Mallory has reached double figures in 20 games
UVA is 12-2 when White scores in double figures
Ugonna Onyenso (2 blocks) has multiple blocks in 25 games
Johann Grünloh (2 blocks) has multiple blocks in 21 games
This is 28th time this season that Grünloh and Onyenso have recorded a block in the same game, most in a season by any ACC duo since Clemson’s K.J. McDaniels and Landry Nnoko had 28 in 2013-14
UVA has started Dallin Hall, Sam Lewis, De Ridder, Grünloh, and Thomas in 35 games
Hall, Thomas, Onyenso, White and Devin Tillis concluded their collegiate careers

Team Notes

All-Time in the NCAA Tournament

Series Notes

Player Notes

Navigating: Basketball