Grant Williams wasted no time letting his Boston Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum hear it after Tennessee disposed of Duke 65-52 in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32.
“F*** Duke,” Williams said. Tatum nodded in silence, although it looks like Tatum wants to retort but thinks better of it after seeing Williams filming his reaction.
We haven’t seen Tatum give Williams that look since he missed both of his free throws against the Cleveland Cavaliers after Williams said he would make them both, which would cost the Celtics the game back on March 7.
While the game was on, Tatum and Williams were preparing to take on the Utah Jazz on the road. They would end up dropping the game 118-117 after former Auburn star Walker Kessler came up with a game-winning block in the game’s final seconds.
Tatum, much like his alma mater on Saturday, was off the mark on the court. Averaging 30 points per game coming into the contest, the former Blue Devil scored 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Ironically, Williams had a fantastic game featuring seven made three-pointers en route to a 23-point final scoring total.
Tennessee Moves On to the Sweet 16
Tennessee might have the easiest ride to the Elite Eight out of any other team next week. After downing Duke in a game that was viewed as a toss-up before tip, a matchup against the winner of 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson and 9-seed Florida Atlantic is almost guaranteed to see the Vols be the favored party coming in.
Whether they can actually do it remains to be seen, but that’s the beauty of March Madness.
If Tennessee holds strong and finds themselves in the East Region championship game, it will serve at the Vols’ second real test all tournament long. It’ll be either Marquette, Kansas State, Kentucky or Michigan State. All four could give Tennessee a great game with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Still, that’s far ahead compared to where we are now. The Vols will have all eyes on FDU and FAU as they await a winner. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET live on TruTV. FAU heads into the matchup as 15.5-point favorites over the undersized Knights. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives Fairleigh Dickinson a five percent chance of coming out victorious Sunday night.
The winner will advance to face Tennessee in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. Tip times are TBD until the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32 Sunday night.