March Madness: Tennessee Volunteers demolishes Wright State to advance in the NCAA Tournament
The Tennessee Volunteers sets a school record in the NCAA Tournament by holding Wright State to 47 points. There were some upsets, but this team had no plans to be one of them.
After a four-year absence from the NCAA Tournament, South Region No. 3 seed Tennessee Volunteers started the 2018 Tournament in style with a 73-47 shellacking of No. 14 Wright State on Thursday afternoon.
Tennessee (26-8), making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014, earned the victory by playing suffocating defense. The 47 points allowed is the fewest points that the Vols have ever surrendered in an NCAA Tournament game. Which is six points fewer than the previous program low of 53 that was set against Virginia during the 1962 Tournament.
Tennessee did not waste much time taking control of the game against the Horizon League champs. The Raiders held two leads (2-0, and 4-3) before the Vols took control of the game with 15:55 to play in the opening round.
A Jordan Bowden layup started a three-minute stretch that the Vols turned a 5-4 deficit to a 13-8 lead. SEC POY Grant Williams then got into the action tallying six straight points during an 8-0 spurt to push the lead to 21-8. UT led 34-23 at halftime.
Wright State could not get the game under double-digits in the second half. Following a Raider three-pointer at midway through the second stanza to make the score 50-35, UT went 11-3 run over the next six minutes to put the game away.
Lamonte Turner led the way for the Volunteers with 19 points off the bench, marking the sixth time over the last eight contests that he has done so. The sophomore guard also set a season-high with eight dimes and committed just one turnover.
Admiral Schofield, who registered his second straight double-double, posting 15 points and 12 rebounds for the winners. Williams added 14 points along with nine caroms.
Wright State (25-10) fell to 0-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. 6-foot-11 freshmen center Loudon Love led the way for the Raiders with 12 points and nine boards.
UT held Wright St. to just 31.7% (19-60) shooting from the field and 19.0% (4-21) from beyond the arc. The Vols also won the rebounding battle 44-32 and swatted away six shots.
With the victory, coach Rick Barnes earned his 100th victory in three years with the Vols. The Vols also improved their all-time NCAA Tournament record to 21-21. They have won seven of their last 10 tourney games.
Tennessee will next face upstart Loyola, Chicago in the third round in Dallas on Sat. The Ramblers (29-5), the 11th seed, earned their first NCAA Tournament victory when Donte Ingram hit a buzzer-beating triple from the March Madness logo to give them a 64-62 victory over sixth-seed Miami.