Tennessee dominated Massachusetts in the second round of the Midwest Region on Friday with an 86-67 victory to reach the third round of the NCAA tournament.
The No. 11 seed Volunteers have won seven of their last eight games, two of which were in this tournament. They will play No. 14 seed Mercer on Sunday after the Atlantic Sun Conference school upset No. 3 Duke earlier on Friday.
Tennessee led UMass 41-22 at halftime and were never in danger of losing after shooting 53.6 percent from the field and attempting 20 more free throws than their opponent. Junior forward Jarnell Stokes scored a career-high 26 points as Tennessee completely controlled the paint against an undersized Minutemen squad.
UMass, the No. 6 seed in the region, was making its first NCAA tournament appearance in 16 years. The Minutemen shot just 3-for-11 from beyond the arc and 42.4 percent from the field overall. They also were out-rebounded by five and committed 13 turnovers.
Senior guard Chaz Williams and junior forward Maxie Esho led the UMass offense with 12 points each.
Photo via Twitter/@SINow
