Virginia Cavaliers and Tennessee Volunteers square off in NCAA Tournament second round

Published Mar. 22, 2026 4:42 a.m. ET
Associated Press

Tennessee Volunteers (23-11, 12-8 SEC) vs. Virginia Cavaliers (30-5, 17-4 ACC)

Philadelphia; Sunday, 6:10 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Volunteers -1.5; over/under is 137.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 9 Virginia faces No. 23 Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Cavaliers have gone 17-4 against ACC teams, with a 13-1 record in non-conference play. Virginia is 23-5 against opponents with a winning record.

The Volunteers' record in SEC games is 12-8. Tennessee averages 79.4 points while outscoring opponents by 10.4 points per game.

Virginia makes 46.4% of its shots from the field this season, which is 5.6 percentage points higher than Tennessee has allowed to its opponents (40.8%). Tennessee scores 10.9 more points per game (79.4) than Virginia allows to opponents (68.5).

TOP PERFORMERS: Thijs De Ridder is averaging 15.4 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Malik Thomas is averaging 12.8 points over the last 10 games.

Ja'Kobi Gillespie averages 2.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Volunteers, scoring 18.3 points while shooting 34.1% from beyond the arc. Nate Ament is averaging 12.2 points and 5.6 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cavaliers: 8-2, averaging 78.9 points, 33.2 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 6.0 steals and 8.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.4 points per game.

Volunteers: 6-4, averaging 74.7 points, 37.5 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 6.9 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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