KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No.18/17 Tennessee Volunteers fell to No. 6/5 Duke, 83-76, in a highly anticipated exhibition matchup Sunday at a sold-out Food City Center. The game,which drew 21,678 fans – marking the arena’s first sellout of the 2025-26 season – was the first on-campus contest between the two programs since Dec. 7, 1976, in Knoxville.
Duke showcased impressive shooting, connecting on 92.6 percent (25-of-27) of their free throws and 37.0 percent (10-of-27) from beyond the arc.
Ament opened the scoring for Tennessee with a midrange jump-shot at the 17:42 mark of the first half. redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella and Okpara each knocked down their first unofficial 3-pointers of their careers during the game. okpara, who had previously gone 2-of-12 from three-point range across his first three years, converted his attempt with 4:16 remaining in the first half.
Six Volunteers - Ament, Brown, Burg, Carey, Amaree Abram, and Jaylen Carey – made their Food City Center debuts.
A total of 39 NBA scouts representing 22 different franchises were in attendance.
Tennessee now holds an overall exhibition record of 87-20,including 65-13 in the United States and 62-11 in Knoxville. Under head coach Rick Barnes, the Volunteers are 15-2 in exhibition games. This marked the fourth consecutive season Tennessee has faced a ranked top-20 Division I team in a preseason exhibition, a practice thay had never done before. Tennessee is 2-1 in exhibition games against teams ranked in the top six of the preseason AP Poll, having played such opponents in three of the past four seasons.
The Volunteers begin the regular season Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. against Mercer at Food City Center,live on SEC Network+.
Follow the University of tennessee men’s basketball team on social media at @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, and /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
