ORLANDO, Fla. — On the same floor that Furman upset Virginia Thursday afternoon at the Amway Center, Tennessee didn't allow Louisiana to become the second team in Orlando to take down a 4-seed.

Instead, the Vols used a strong push to close out the first half then held off a furious Louisiana comeback in the second half to extend their season and move on in the NCAA Tournament with a 58-55 win.

Guard Tyreke Key paced Tennessee with 12 points while guard Jahmai Mashack scored 11 and forward Uros Plavsic finished with 9.

Defensively, Tennessee outrebounded Louisiana 33-27 and held star forward Jordan Brown to 16 points. He entered the game averaging 19.4.

Tennessee (24-10) suffered through an abysmal offensive stretch marred by unforced turnovers over the midway point of the first half that last for seven minutes and allowed Louisiana to rattle off a run and tie the Vols at 19-19.

Following a Rick Barnes timeout with more than six minutes left, the Vols flipped the script.

Mashack hit a jumper to reclaim the lead and open the way for a commanding 11-0 run over the last four minutes of the half that also included a Nkamhoua 3-pointer and Plavsic layup just before the buzzer to give Tennessee a 30-19 advantage at halftime.

Through the scoring droughts and runs in the half, Vescovi sat more than 11 minutes on the bench after being pulled with two early fouls.

Tennessee's dominance poured over into the second half. The Vols outscored Louisiana 18-11 in the first 12 minutes of the period. Key's 3-pointer put Tennessee up 18, but another scoring drought allowed the Ragin Cajuns (26-8) to get themselves back into the game.

Sparked by guard Kobe Julien who hit back-to-back 3-pointers to kickstart a 13-0 run, Louisiana found new life, pulling within five with less than eight minutes remaining.

Mashack's jumper with 5:31 to go provided an answer and kept Tennessee ahead by multiple possessions. Julien free throws brought Louisiana with the clock working against it, the Vols iced the game at the free throw line.

Tennessee will meet 5-seed Duke in the Round of 32 on Saturday in Orlando.

The Blue Devils (27-8) beat 12-seed Oral Roberts 71-54 on Thursday.

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