Tennessee vs. Creighton in NCAA Sweet 16: Score updates, highlights

DETROIT — Neither Tennessee nor Creighton has ever been beyond the Elite Eight.

The winner of Friday night’s Sweet 16 game will keep their Final Four dreams alive in the 2024 NCAA tournament. The other will head home with another close call in March Madness.

The No. 2 seed Volunteers (26-8) and No. 3 seed Bluejays (25-9) meet at Little Caesars Arena, with the victor moving on to Sunday to face 1-seed Purdue, which beat 5-seed Gonzaga 80- 68 in the earlier game, in the Midwest region final with a Final Four berth in the balance.

Tennessee is trying to get to a place it has only been once. The 2010 Vols knocked off Kawhi Leonard’s San Diego State team in the opening round of the NCAA tournament Midwest region and Ohio State and Evan Turner to reach the Elite Eight. But Tom Izzo and 5-seed Michigan State ended then-coach Bruce Pearl’s bid for 6-seed UT’s first Final Four with a 70-69 loss that ended the Vols’ 28-9 season.

Creighton is trying to advance to its second consecutive Elite Eight. Last year’s trip was the farthest coach Greg McDermott’s program has ever advanced in the modern NCAA tournament, with the school’s 1941 team part of the eight-team NCAA field. The Bluejays are in their sixth Sweet 16 and third in the past four years. Their 2023 run ended with a 57-56 loss to San Diego State and a 24-13 record.

The Vols and Bluejays both feature fifth-year senior All-Americans who began their careers at smaller schools and transferred into their current programs. Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht, a 6-foot-6 guard and first-team All-American, averages 21.1 points and 4.9 rebounds. Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman, a 6-7 wing, averages 18.3 points and 9.1 rebounds and was a third-team selection.