2025 NCAA Tournament: Wofford's Magic Carpet Ride Ends With Opening Round Loss to No. 2 Tennessee

 

Wofford senior wing Jackson Sivills (Photo courtesy of Wofford Athletics)

NCAA Tournament Recap: No. 2 Tennessee 77, No. 15 Wofford 62

LEXINGTON, KY---No. 2 Tennessee got a game-high 29 points from Chaz Lanier, while SEC Defensive Player of the Year Zakai Zeigler added a double-double, with 12 points and 12 assists, setting a new program record for career assists in the process, as the Vols held off SoCon six-time champion and No. 15 seed Wofford, 77-62, in a Midwest Regional opening round NCAA Tournament clash Thursday night at Rupp Arena.

With the win, the Vols improved to 28-7 overall and will move on to face No. 7 UCLA, who took down No. 10 Utah State, 72-47, in the nightcap at Rupp Arena. 

Wofford concludes its 2024-25 season with a 19-16 overall record, as the Terriers became the first-ever No. 6 seed to win the SoCon Tournament title, when Wofford knocked off No. 5 Furman, 92-85, in the SoCon Championship game last week. Wofford became the first non-No. 1 seed to win the Southern Conference Tournament in eight years, with ETSU the last non-No. 1 seed to do it, winning the 2017 SoCon Tourney title with a 79-74 verdict over No. 1 seed UNC Greensboro. The Bucs entered the '17 SoCon Tournament as the No. 3 seed.

For Wofford it was the program's first NCAA Tournament game since the 2019 tourney, when that historic 30-win Terrier team took down No. 10 seed Seton Hall, 84-68, for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. The seventh-seeded Terriers would eventually bow out of the NCAA Tournament in the Round of 32, as the seventh-seeded Terriers lost to No.2 seeded Kentucky, 62-56, in the ensuing round.

For Tennessee, it improved its NCAA Tournament record to 29-27 overall and won its fourth-straight opening round tournament game under veteran head coach Rick Barnes, who is making his 29^th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, as Wofford picked up its second all-time NCAA Tournament win over a Southern Conference foe, knocking off Furman, 80-69, in a East Regional First Round game at the Greensboro Coliseum in the 1980 NCAA Tournament.

The Vols are now 9-0 all-time against Wofford, as the Terriers fell to 1-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The SoCon is now 33-82 all-time in the Big Dance. 

Lanier’s 29 points came on 11-of-22 shooting from the field, while the former North Florida Osprey added a 6-for-13 effort from beyond the three-point arc. The native of Nashville, Tenn., also added five rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block in the win.

Zeigler added his 12 on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-5 mark from three-point range and was 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. Perhaps the most impressive stat for Zeigler in the contest is that he played 37 minutes of basketball in an NCAA Tournament game without committing one turnover. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it was just the sixth time a player has posted 12 points, 12 assists and no turnovers in the past 50 seasons (1975-2025).

Wofford ended the night with four players in double figures, with two of those playing their final game in a Wofford uniform. Jackson Sivills was one of those, and he closed out his career by turning in an incredible final four games, including scoring a career-high 20 points in last week’s championship win over Furman, and he followed that up by contributing 15 points in his final game in the Old Gold and Black. Sivills added his 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and was 2-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc, including a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line and added five rebounds,

Corey Tripp, Wofford’s leading scorer coming into the game, added 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field and 2-for-8 from three-point range to post 14 points in 35 minutes of game action in what was his final game as a Wofford player. Tripp, a native of Medina, OH, also added three assists and two steals, but committed six of the team’s 11 total turnovers. He appeared to be the only player that could create his own shot off the dribble against Tennessee’s tenacious on-ball defense in the game. Rounding out the Terriers in double figures in the were Jeremy Lorenz and Justin Bailey, who added 12 and 10 points, respectively. SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player Kyler Filewich finished with two points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field, while contributing five rebounds and two assists in his final game for Wofford.

For the game, Tennessee connected on 48.1% (26-of-54) from the field and posted a 35.7% (10-of-28) from three-point range, as well as 68.2% (15-of-22) from the charity stripe.

Wofford would finish their final game of the 2024-25 season by connecting on 41.8% (23-of-55) from the field and connected on 42.3% (11-of-26) from three-point range. Wofford attempted only nine free throws, shooting 55.6% (5-of-9) from the stripe. The Terriers made 48 threes in their final four games of the season. Wofford shot the ball at a blistering 43.6% (48-of-110) from three-point range over the final four games of the season.

Wofford held a slight 22-20 advantage in points in the paint, however, the Vols used a 14-0 advantage in the “points from turnovers”, as the top defensive team in the SEC forced 11 Terrier miscues, while committing only six itself over the duration of 40 minutes of basketball, while recording nine steals.

The two teams were even on rebounds (31-31), while the Vols held a slight 15-13 edge in total assists. The Vols also held advantages in fast-break points (3-0) and second-chance points (9-7), while Wofford held a narrow advantage in bench scoring (15-5). Tennessee outscored Wofford 15-5 at the charity stripe on 13 more attempts.

Tennessee started the game strong, posting the first five points of the game, and though Wofford would fight throughout, the Vols never relinquished the lead for the remainder of the night, leading wire-to-wire. The Vols would take a 36-27 lead into the locker room. Despite getting blitzed on the boards in the opening half of play, the Terriers had managed to get to the half trailing by less than double digits, as Wofford’s defense and timely shot making when Tennessee had threatened to put the game out of reach being two key positive bullet points Wofford and head coach Dwight Perry could highlight as positives during the halftime intermission.

It looked like Wofford might get run out of Rupp Arena following a 12-0 run midway through the opening half, as Tennessee assumed a 14-point lead, at 22-8, following a Chaz Lanier three with 9:58 remaining in the frame. Triples on consecutive trips down the floor by Sivills and freshman guard Luke Flynn got Wofford back to within 22-14 to end the long scoring drought in the opening half. Wofford battled the rest of the half, and was rewarded for its efforts continuing to get timely answers for Tennessee’s shot-making down the stretch, settling for a nine-point deficit at the break

In the second half, Tennessee controlled the opening minutes of the frame, increasing the advantage back to 14, at 48-34, following a pair of Jahmai Mashack free throws just after the first media timeout of the second half at the 15:33 mark. Just as it had done in the first half, the Teriers closed the deficit inside double digits two minutes later, as a Jeremy Lorenz triple would get Wofford back to within eight, at 48-40, with 13:33 remaining.

It would be the closest Wofford would get for the remainder of the game, as a 13-5 spurt by the Vols pushed Tennessee’s lead to its largest of the night to that point, at 16 points, as a Zakai Zeigler three would give the Vols a 61-45 lead with 10:35 remaining. Tennessee would never see its leading margin dip below 11 and would take its biggest lead of the night when Cade Phillips knocked down a pair of free throws with 41 seconds left to give Tennessee a 77-59 lead.

Wofford’s final points of the season would come just as the first points of the season had come against Erskine College back on Nov. 4—via a three-pointer—had come on a three-pointer from Dillon Bailey, while its final points of what would turn out to be a SoCon title season four months later, would come from the Terriers’ lone addition from the transfer portal, as Justin Bailey’s three-pointer with 28 seconds left got the margin back to 15, setting the final score at 77-62.

Wofford ended the season with 19 wins for the third time in the past six seasons. Since Wofford won a historic 30 games and went unblemished in SoCon play with an 18-0 record in 2018-19, the Terriers have posted an overall mark of 106-85 with one tournament title over the past six seasons. Wofford has finished above .500 overall for eight-straight seasons, reaching 20 or more wins in a season twice.