VOLS SWEAT OUT VICTORY
Iowa and Joe Wieskamp battled back from a 25-point deficit, but Tennessee and Jordan Bowden fought for the victory.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – On the other side of that wall in the depths of Nationwide Arena, you’re wondering about Tennessee and what this team really is — the one that was destroying Iowa for a half Sunday or the one that nearly matched the largest collapse in NCAA Tournament history?
Inside the locker room, they aren’t asking that question. They’re spraying coach Rick Barnes with so much water, making so much noise, that he comes out looking like a man who just went whitewater rafting. They’re on to the Sweet 16.
“They got me good,” the fourth-year UT coach said after a dominating, then hapless, then tougher-than-leather performance against Iowa that resulted in an 83-77 overtime win. “They got me really good. But if it makes them happy, I can deal with it, you know?”
They were happy, after a 44-19 lead for the South Regional No. 2 seed Volunteers (31-5) dissolved in a storm of ridiculous turnovers and big shots from the No. 10 seed Hawkeyes (23-12). Lamonte Turner’s defense on Iowa gunner Jordan Bohannon kept things from getting away and set up a glorious matchup in Thursday’s regional semifinals in Louisville, Kentucky, with Turner on Purdue’s Carsen Edwards.
They were happy because two-time SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams dominated in overtime. Six points, one enormous assist for a Jordan Bone 3pointer that came out of a double team and somehow got through a tangle of arms, and one strip of Iowa’s Tyler Cook that served as the game’s biggest defensive play with 65 seconds left in overtime and the Vols up 80-75.
Then a quote from Williams that perfectly reinforces his status as college basketball’s nerdiest star: “I feel like a fifth-grader who just ate Skittles.”
They should savor this flavor, at least until it’s time to break down film and that sour second half — Iowa 43, Tennessee 22 — is analyzed.
This is just the eighth Sweet 16 in school history, and the Vols are one win from the second Elite Eight and two wins from the first Final Four. They have tied the school record for wins. They have atoned for a crushing secondround loss to Loyola Chicago a year earlier, a game big man Kyle Alexander missed. This time he was essential.
They have put themselves in position, even if the two-game ride to get here has been like a bumpy jaunt.
“It’s tough, just because you know everybody in (the arena) wants to see you lose, and the other team is playing with a little more emotion, a little more fire, a little more grit,” Turner, the only Vol to play more than 40 minutes, said of Iowa’s charge back. “They got pep in their step, and being the team that had the lead and gave up the lead, you kind of just have to take a deep breath and relax. And realize it’s a game. And give the other team credit for their run and realize it can’t last forever.”
Outside that locker room Sunday, you’re thinking about some of the teams Barnes had at Texas that suffered NCAA exits earlier than expected. You know this would have been the new list topper for him and leaded fuel for his detractors. You’re wondering if any of these Tennessee players had any idea that losing this game would have meant tying the record for largest blown lead in an NCAA loss.
Inside the locker room, Turner answered that question.
“Nah,” he said. “But honestly, I was thinking like, ‘Dang, we just gave up a 25-point lead, you know? That’s got to be like a record or something.’ I honestly was thinking that. Like, ‘Yeah, we can’t lose this game.’ ”
They didn’t, even though Bohannon tied the score late on free throws, after Turner appeared to block his deep attempt cleanly. “All ball,” Turner said, but there were plenty of calls each way that could have gone the other way.
The Good Vols could blow out Purdue. The Bad Vols could be blown out. The actual Vols, flaws and all, are advancing, and there’s no getting off this ride now.