BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Tennessee Volunteers scrapped, pounded and grabbed.
They also survived. No coincidence in that.
The second-seeded Volunteers mostly ditched the glamorous 3-pointer and got physical in Sunday’s second-round and moved on with a 76-71 overtime victory over Butler in the NCAA East Regional.
Tennessee (31-4) got a little assist from women’s coach Pat Summitt, who called her men’s counterpart a few hours before the game.
“She said, `Just tell those guys to rebound the basketball,’ ” Pearl said of his colleague, who has won seven national titles.
JaJuan Smith hit four consecutive free throws in the final 13.6 seconds of overtime to clinch it.
The Volunteers, who will play Louisville on Thursday in Charlotte, N.C., had five players with multiple fouls by halftime and made only two 3-pointers in the final 40 minutes against Butler (30-4).
The Volunteers scored six consecutive points inside after the Bulldogs took their first lead in the final two minutes of overtime, including benched guard Ramar Smith’s basket with 27 seconds left to make it 72-68.
Butler still wouldn’t go away. Pete Campbell followed a missed shot to make it 72-70 with 16 seconds left. JaJaun Smith then made both free throws.
Julian Betko rebounded a missed 3-pointer by A.J. Graves and was fouled with 4.9 seconds left for Butler. He went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, and JaJuan Smith grabbed the rebound before icing the game with free throws at the other end.
The Bulldogs, who got a low seed considering their No. 11 national ranking, didn’t have their minds changed. Coach Brad Stevens remains convinced his team is “Final Four-caliber,” and his players agree.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Earl Clark scored 14 points and Louisville handed Oklahoma its most-lopsided loss in the NCAA tournament, building a 44-22 halftime lead and coasting from there.
Louisville matched its biggest rout in the NCAA tournament, having trounced Kansas State by 30 in 1968. Starting five players born outside Kentucky, the third-seeded Cardinals (26-8) reached the round of 16 for the first time since 2005. They will take on Tennessee, which beat Butler 76-71 in overtime, on Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C.
RALEIGH, N.C. – Wayne Ellington scored 20 points, Ty Lawson had 19 points and seven assists and the Tar Heels raced to a double-digit lead in the first five minutes of the blowout.
North Carolina (34-2) will face fourth-seeded Washington State on Thursday in Charlotte, N.C., the same arena where it won last weekend’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament weekend.
TAMPA, Fla. – Scottie Reynolds scored 25 points and Corey Stokes added 20 as the 12th-seeded Wildcats reached the round of 16 for the third time in four years.
Villanova (22-12), one of the last teams picked for the tournament field, will play top-seeded Kansas (33-3) in the regional semifinals.
Alex Franklin led Siena (23-11) with 18 points, but the Saints didn’t get the kind of performances they needed from Kenny Hasbrouck, Edwin Ubiles and Tay Fisher, who all played major roles in the team’s 21-point upset of Vanderbilt in the first round.
Hasbrouck had 17 points, but was only 5-of-15 from the field. Ubiles missed his first seven shots and finished 3-of-11 for 12 points, while Fisher was held to five points.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A.J. Abrams calmly sank two free throws with 9.5 seconds remaining to give the second-seeded Longhorns a narrow victory.
Abrams gave Texas a 74-69 lead, but the Longhorns weren’t quite safe yet. Miami’s Raymond Hicks made a 3-pointer, and D.J. Augustin then missed badly on his first of two free throws with 1.8 seconds to play. Augustin made the second, though, to preserve the win.
Abrams scored 26 points on six 3-pointers for the second consecutive game. Texas (30-6) next will play third-seeded Stanford on Friday in Houston.
TAMPA, Fla. – The 12th-seeded Hilltoppers advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in 15 years and have a date with top-seeded UCLA in Phoenix.
Courtney Lee finished with 29 points, including a huge 3-pointer that gave his team the lead for good with 6:17 remaining. Six consecutive free throws in the final 34 seconds sealed the victory.
Tyrone Brazelton added 15 points for the Hilltoppers (29-6).