KENNEDY CHANDLER

Michigan booked the most surprising of its five straight trips to the Sweet 16 by beating No. 3 seed Tennessee 76-68 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Santiago Vescovi scored 18 points and Tennessee pounded Longwood 88-56 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, showing exactly why it felt it deserved better than a No. 3 seed.

Santiago Vescovi scored 17 points and Josiah-Jordan James had 16 points and 10 rebounds to help ninth-ranked Tennessee beat Texas A&M 65-50 to claim its first men’s SEC basketball tournament title in 43 years.

9 Tennessee held off fifth-ranked Kentucky 69-62 in the final minutes Saturday to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament final for the third time in the last five years. Tennessee will face eighth-seeded Texas A&M on Sunday in the SEC title game. CAL’S MILESTONEKentucky coach John Calipari will have to wait a year to potentially break the school record for most wins in the SEC Tournament. Tennessee: The Volunteers will try to win their fifth SEC Tournament title and first since 1979. UP NEXTKentucky: Awaits its NCAA Tournament seeding and first-round pairing.

Kennedy Chandler scored 19 points, Zakai Zeigler added 11 and No. 9 Tennessee held off fifth-ranked Kentucky 69-62 in the final minutes to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament final for the third time in the last five years.

Freshman guard Zakai Zeigler, whose family was left homeless by a fire in New York City last weekend, made two key free throws in the final seconds to help No. 13 Tennessee hold off No. 14 Arkansas 78-74.

Santiago Vescovi scored 14 points and Zakai Zeigler had 11 of his 13 points in the second half to lead No. 17 Tennessee to a 67-62 victory over No. 3 Auburn.

Freshman TyTy Washington Jr. scored a career-high 28 points, Sahvir Wheeler returned from injury to add 21 points and No. 18 Kentucky shot a season-high 68% to blow out No. 22 Tennessee 107-79.

Santiago Vescovi scored 23 points for Tennessee (2-1), which had opened the season with lopsided wins over Tennessee-Martin and East Tennessee. Villanova scored the game’s first nine points, holding Tennessee without a basket for over six minutes. A dunk from Samuels, who had 11 rebounds, on a lob pass from Justin Moore capped a 14-0 first-half run that pushed the Villanova lead to 33-11. But he picked up his fourth foul a few seconds later and the Wildcats' lead was never challenged. “We learned it from those guys and now we’re in that position.”UP NEXT:Villanova plays the winner of the second game Saturday between No.

Jermaine Samuels scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 5 Villanova eased to a 71-53 win over No. 17 Tennessee Saturday in the opening round of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament in Connecticut.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — (AP) — Olivier Nkamhoua scored a career-high 23 points and Kennedy Chandler added 16 as No. 18 Tennessee beat East Tennessee State 94-62 on Sunday. “But, that's a pretty good team that we played.”BIG PICTUREEast Tennessee State: The Bucs haven't beaten a ranked team since March 20, 1992, when they topped No. Tennessee: Getting Fulkerson back on the floor was a big step in the right direction for the Vols. We need to get him ready.”UP NEXTEast Tennessee State: After opening the season with two road losses (Appalachian State and Tennessee), the Bucs will play their home opener Thursday night against USC Upstate.

Olivier Nkamhoua scored a career-high 23 points and Kennedy Chandler added 16 as No. 18 Tennessee beat East Tennessee State 94-62.