Vols keep memory of upset
To say Jordan Bone has heard the questions would be an understatement. The Tennessee guard has lived with the image of his shot clanking off the rim followed by Loyola of Chicago, last year’s NCAA Tournament darling, celebrating a trip to the Sweet 16.
He might be sick of the questions, but he would never say. It’s still a source of motivation for a second-round game Sunday against Iowa.
“It’s definitely something that you remember,” Bone said.
The No. 2-seeded Volunteers play 10thseeded Iowa at 12:10 p.m. at Nationwide Arena in a NCAA South Regional game.
Tennessee took the best punches No. 15 seed Colgate could throw Friday in a 77-70 first-round victory. Iowa came back from an early deficit to knock off No. 7 Cincinnati 79-72.
To boil down everything this Tennessee team has accomplished the past two seasons to that moment against Loyola of Chicago wouldn’t be fair to him or the team. The Volunteers followed up last year’s regularseason Southeastern Conference co-championship with an equally impressive season behind national player of the year candidate Grant Williams, first-team all-sec forward Admiral Schofield and two other double-digit scorers, Bone and Lamonte Turner.
Part of the nature of the tournament is the team that loses to a lower-seeded mid-major program will enter the next tournament — if it’s fortunate to make the field — with that upset hanging over its head.
If winning 30 games hasn’t established Tennessee as one of the top teams in the country, its first appearance in the second week of the tournament should leave no doubt.
“Every time we have gotten up, everybody wants to see us fall down,” Williams said. “We understand that we’re doing this for each other and not for anybody else. So that’s the motivation that we have.”
The Volunteers will have to improve their three-point defense to make their first Final Four. They have allowed 15 threes in each of the past two games.
Iowa shot 65 percent from the field in the second half against Cincinnati and 11 of 22 from threepoint range overall. Hawkeyes guard Jordan Bohannon said that type of performance will have to start from the tip-off this time.
“It will make the game a lot easier if Game 1 at Nationwide Arena we’re able to get out there right from the start and hit some shots, for sure,” Bohannon said.
Tennessee and Iowa are two of the most efficient offenses in the country, with the Vols ranked third and the Hawkeyes 14th by Kenpom.com. Iowa center Luka Garza led the way against Cincinnati, scoring 20 points by just taking what the defense presented to him.
Tennessee will be one of the best defensive teams the Hawkeyes have seen as Iowa tries to secure its first appearance in a regional semifinal since 1999.
Coach Fran Mccaffery said over the course of a season he aims to establish scoring in the lane, scoring off drive-andkicks and being able to get to the free-throw line.
“To beat a team that’s won 30 games,” Mccaffery said, “you better be able to do all those things or attempt to do all those things to beat them.”
jmyers@dispatch.com @Jacob_myers_25