Raiders push Volunteers to limit in bid for upset

Tennessee 77, Colgate 70

Shot after Colgate shot connected from long distance Friday, leaving Nationwide Arena buzzing.

Could the Raiders really pull this off? Could they really become the ninth No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament to topple a No. 2 seed?

They believed they could, but just as importantly, so did Tennessee. That may have enabled the Volunteers to stave off the upset. They may have buckled, but they hung on to win 77-70 and advance to a second-round game Sunday against Iowa.

“We knew that it was going to be like that going into this game,” Tennessee guard Jordan Bone said.

Well, he couldn’t have known it was going to be quite like that. Few people would have thought that Colgate could rally from 16 points downto take a second-half lead. Fewer still would have given the Raiders a chance if they’d known they’d get almost zero production from their best player.

Rapolas Ivanauskas, the Patriot League player of the year, didn’t score and didn’t play in the second half because of a flare-up of pinkeye. Ivanauskas had a bout of pinkeye two weeks ago and found it had returned when he awoke Friday. When he put his contact lenses in before the game, he struggled to see.

“They tried a variety of different things, medications and ice and cleaning the lenses and all those things,” Colgate coach Matt Langel said. “He tried to warm up at halftime and just said he couldn’t go.”

Without the 6-foot10 Ivanauskas, Colgate’s size disadvantage figured to be insurmountable. But led by sophomore guard Jordan Burns, the Raiders came close to pulling off the upset. Burns scored 32 points, with 24 coming on 8-of-13 shooting from three-point range.

“We tried to limit his touches down to the end,” Tennessee’s Jordan Bowden said. “Lamonte Turner was playing good, tight defense on him. He was just hitting tough shots.”

Burns wasn’t alone. Tucker Richardson made a three-pointer midway through the second half to put Colgate, which once trailed 36-20, ahead by two. Tennessee regained the lead but led by only three before Admiral Schofield finally countered the Colgate three-point barrage with two consecutive threes of his own. That gave the Volunteers a 73-64 lead with 45 seconds left.

That was enough to allow Tennessee (30-5) to exhale, even though Burns added two more three-pointers as a parting gift.

“I felt like today was going to be a special day, with my dad being able to see me play for the first time in awhile,” said Burns, who’s from San Antonio, Texas. “It was great having him here, having all my family here. So I definitely feel like today was a special day, and it was, obviously.”

Langel was left with mixed emotions.

“You’re proud of your team and happy that we fought so hard to make such an exciting game, but you’re disappointed for the result,” he said. “And your heart breaks for Rapolas, who without him we wouldn’t be able to get there.”

Colgate (24-11) had a special day, but Tennessee got what it needed. Coach Rick Barnes said he thought his team looked anxious early, even as it built the big lead. He didn’t like his team’s body language. He thought star Grant Williams should have fought harder for position in the post.

But after taking Colgate’s best shot, they advanced.

“I think a game like today is what makes the NCAA Tournament the NCAA Tournament,” Barnes said.