Ja'Kobi Gillespie Drops 29 as Tennessee Ends Miami (OH)'s Dream Season 78-56

PHILADELPHIA — For four months, Miami (OH) made a habit of answering every question anyone asked about it. On Friday afternoon at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Tennessee asked one the RedHawks could not answer. Ja'Kobi Gillespie scored 29 points, hit six 3-pointers and buried five of them before halftime as the sixth-seeded Volunteers beat 11th-seeded Miami 78-56 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Region.

The loss closed the most remarkable season in Miami program history. The RedHawks went 31-0 in the regular season, the only Division I team to finish unbeaten in 2025-26 and, according to The Associated Press, only the eighth to do it in the past 50 years. They lost their MAC Tournament opener, then beat SMU in the First Four for the program's first NCAA Tournament win in 27 years. They finish 32-2.

Gillespie Takes Over Early

Miami came out with some juice. Brant Byers and Peter Suder hit early 3-pointers, and the RedHawks led 13-10 before Tennessee found its footing. Once it did, the game tilted quickly. The Vols made 12 of their first 19 shots and piled up 20 quick points in the paint, according to the AP, while Gillespie went to work from the perimeter.

The Maryland transfer had 22 points by halftime. Ethan Burg added a 3 at the first-half buzzer, and Tennessee went to the locker room ahead 51-32. Suder kept Miami afloat with 16 first-half points, per The Miami Student, but the RedHawks' outside shooting dried up after the early makes.

"When he starts making shots, he's unstoppable to guard him," Tennessee forward J.P. Estrella said of Gillespie, according to the AP. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes offered his own measure of the opponent: "It took maybe our best half of the year to beat them today."

Size Wins the Paint

The second half was mostly about Tennessee's size. The Vols finished with a 40-16 edge in points in the paint and outrebounded Miami 42-25, according to The Miami Student. Estrella posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Felix Okpara added 12 points.

Miami shot 19 of 54 from the field, 35.2 percent, its lowest mark of the season, and went 7 of 29 from 3-point range. Foul trouble added to the problem after the break. "I know we scored a little bit there at the very beginning of the game, but it was a physical game," Miami coach Travis Steele said, per the student newspaper.

Gillespie finished 11 of 21 from the floor and 6 of 11 from deep, and he added nine assists and three steals. He also passed up a shot at 30 points late, turning what started as a dunk attempt into a lob for Okpara. "I was trying to dunk it," Gillespie said with a laugh, according to the AP. Barnes was less charitable: "He thought he was going to dunk it? He can't dunk in traffic."

Suder Goes Down Swinging

Suder led all scorers with 27 points and was the only RedHawk in double figures. Byers had nine, and Eian Elmer, Luke Skaljac and Trey Perry each scored four.

Miami's path here drew skepticism all season. The AP noted the RedHawks' schedule ranked 339th in overall strength and included no Quadrant 1 games. Friday showed the gap that numbers like those hint at, but it did not erase what came before, and Suder said as much.

"This loss doesn't take away from what we've done all year," Suder said, according to The Miami Student. "Our culture, our connectivity, the brotherhood we have: We're best friends off the court."

Steele struck the same tone. "I couldn't be more proud of the guys that we have in our locker room," he said.

What's Next for Tennessee

Tennessee improved to 23-11 and got back to playing like the team Barnes has built in March. The Vols had lost four of their last six games before the tournament, but under Barnes they have been a top-six seed in all eight of their NCAA appearances and reached the Elite Eight in each of the last two tournaments, per the AP.

Next up is third-seeded Virginia on Sunday in the second round of the Midwest Region. If Tennessee gets another half like Friday's first, it will like its chances. Miami, meanwhile, heads home with a season that will be remembered long after the final score is forgotten.

Photo Credit: Dylan Aguilar/Undrafted