Volunteers turn back Hawkeyes’ furious rally
Tennessee 83, Iowa 77, OT
As Admiral Schofield walked down the Nationwide Arena concourse to the postgame interview, he spotted a Tennessee fan.
“Sorry to make you guys panic,” he said.
He said this with a smile, as if the Volunteers had it in the bag the whole time against Iowa.
Well, March is about survival, not style points. If blowing a 25-point lead and needing overtime, as Tennessee did in its 83-77 second-round NCAA Tournament victory Sunday afternoon, is part of the deal, so be it.
“Honestly, one of the things we always say is that it doesn’t have to be perfect because basketball is never perfect,” Schofield said. “The way we finished the game, we can’t have that. That’s what got us beat throughout the season. The team you saw in the first half is what won 31 games.”
Tennessee, the No. 2 seed in the South Regional, played every bit like a national championship contender in the first half. Using chest-to-chest, man-to-man defense and efficient offense, the Vols built a 44-19 lead and were ahead by 21 at halftime.
“We had a decision to make,” Iowa freshman Joe Wieskamp said. “We could fold and hand it to them, or we could fight back. I think we showed that in the second half.”
With Tyler Cook scoring all 11 of his points in the first seven minutes of the second half, Iowa used a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to 53-44 as Tennessee repeatedly committed turnovers.
The Hawkeyes still trailed 75-71 with 58 seconds left until a basket by Isaiah Moss and two free throws by Wieskamp with 20 seconds left tied it.
Tennessee called timeout to set up a final shot. Coach Rick Barnes said a play was designed for Southeastern Conference player of the year Grant Williams, but Iowa’s defense was able to prevent a pass inside to him. Tennessee settled for a baseline threepointer by guard Jordan Bone, which missed.
But Williams took over in overtime. He scored six of Tennessee’s first nine points and made a slick pass to Bone for a three-pointer as the Volunteers jumped to a sevenpoint lead early in the extra period. Iowa couldn’t summon another rally.
“Once it got to overtime, I thought we responded the way we needed to,” Barnes said. “But it shouldn’t have gotten to that point. Because it did, you’ve got to give all the credit to Iowa and the fact they took advantage of some of our silly turnovers.”
Williams finished with 19 points. Schofield also had 19 with 17 in the first half. The first-team all-sec forward was not in for the final shot of regulation, nor for overtime.
That was his choice, Barnes said. Schofield had four fouls and didn’t think he could be as effective defensively as he needed to be, so he lobbied for Kyle Alexander to stay in for him.
“I think you realize that players have a feel better than anybody in the building,” Barnes said, “and he felt that was the best thing. I trust my players.”
Tennessee (31-5) will play No. 3 seed Purdue in the regional semifinals in Louisville, Kentucky.
Iowa (23-12) was led by guard Jordan Bohannon with 18 points. He had only one turnover against Tennessee’s aggressive defense.
Iowa coach Fran Mccaffery took satisfaction from his team’s effort in making an unlikely comeback.
“It’s the only thing we can ever really ask of our guys,” he said. “We put a game plan together. We know it’s not going to be perfection. It never is.
“But what you hope to get is a perfect effort. And that’s what we got. Anytime that happens, you just want to hug your guys and tell them how much you love them because you appreciate how hard it was to do what they did.”