The University of Tennessee men's basketball team began its 2025-26 campaign with an 83-76 setback against No. 6/5 Duke in an exhibition contest at a sold-out Food City Center.

No. 18/17 Tennessee built a nine-point lead late in the first half, but the Blue Devils stormed back in the second half to earn the win. Senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie paced the home team with 19 points and a game-best eight assists in the hard-fought defeat.

The Volunteers raced out to an 11-4 lead at the 14:28 of the opening half, as they held Duke to just two makes on its opening 12 attempts.

After six straight points by the Blue Devils, Tennessee scored seven in a row in just 57 seconds to go up by eight, 18-10, with 11:36 on the clock.

Duke countered with a 7-0 run to close within one, but Tennessee then ha

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