RedHawks roughed up by Vols

PHILADELPHIA — Ja'Kobi Gillespie hit six 3-pointers and scored 29 points as sixth-seeded Tennessee ended a fabulous season for Miami (Ohio) with a 78-56 win Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Vols (23-11) shook off a rough end to the season — losing four of six games — and advanced to play third-seeded Virginia on Sunday in the Midwest Region.Gillespie hit five 3s in the first half to help the Vols push ahead by 20 and squash any chance the 11th-seeded RedHawks (31-2) could carry over the confidence gained from their First Four win and pull off a signature victory.The Vols did just about everything right and showed again why — no matter the seed — they are a perennial threat to go deep in March. Led by Gillespie, the Vols made 12 of 19 shots to start the game, including long 3s and 20 quick points in the paint.Just to add one more gut punch to Miami, Ethan Burg hit a 3 at the first-half buzzer for a 51-32 lead.Gillespie passed up a chance to score 30 points — only two other Vols have ever reached that mark in the NCAA Tournament — when he drove the lane with 1:13 left but skipped the open look and threw a lob to Felix Okpara for the bucket.J.P. Estrella had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Vols.Peter Suder was the lone Miami player in double digits with 27 points.Gillespie is just one of many standouts enjoying the same March success in a new uniform thanks to the transfer portal.He started 36 games last season and averaged 14.7 points, shooting 40.7% from 3-point range, to help Maryland reach the Sweet 16.Had Gillespie peeked at the scoreboard, he could have caught a Villanova update. Last season's Maryland coach, Kevin Willard, had the Wildcats in the tournament.What has remained a constant in March is Tennessee winning. The Vols have been a top-six seed in all eight of their NCAA Tournament appearances under coach Rick Barnes. They are 8-3 overall in the last three tourneys.Miami had a March highlight when it beat SMU in the First Four, its first NCAA Tournament victory in 27 years.Miami went 31-0 during a captivating regular season — the only Division I team to go unbeaten in 2025-26 and the eighth in the past 50 years.The RedHawks lost their MAC Tournament opener and had to wait and see if their dazzling record was enough to get in the field because of a schedule that ranked 339th in overall strength and featured no Quadrant 1 games.Liam Quigley was the lone member of the Miami swim team who drove to Philadelphia to watch the game.The swimmers created some excitement late in the season when they started rooting on the basketball team in nothing but their Speedos, goggles and swim caps. Their popularity exploded when they bum-rushed the stands behind the basket in the First Four and waved their arms to provide a nearly-nude distraction on SMU's free-throw attempts.Quigley, in red-and-white overalls, traveled from the First Four site in Dayton and had a seat near a non-swimmer RedHawks fan who painted his face and chest red.