Strong push late carries Tennessee over American

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The University of Tennessee men’s basketball survived a surprising scare this afternoon, beating American University 72-57 in a first-round NCAA tournament East Regional game at BJCC Arena.

The No. 2 seed Volunteers gradually pulled away from No. 15 seed American, which tied the score midway through the second half in the program’s first NCAA tournament game.

UT (30-4) will play this afternoon’s Butler-South Alabama winner in a Sunday second-round game, and a repeat of today’s performance would likely send the Vols home before the Sweet Sixteen.

American (21-12) became another Patriot League program to spook a higher-seeded team in March, but the Eagles couldn’t do what Bucknell has done twice in the past five seasons — win. The Bison beat Kansas in 2004 and Arkansas in 2006.

UT nearly lost as a No. 2 seed for the second time in three seasons. Then-sophomore Chris Lofton hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift the Vols over No. 15 seed Winthrop in 2006. No. 2 seeds were 92-4 against No. 15 seeds entering this year’s tournament.

Two consecutive 3-pointers from American star Garrison Carr tied the score at 40 with 11:22 left, but the Vols answered with a 10-0 run — capped by a Wayne Chism putback with 7:55 left — and they never trailed again. Barely.

Brian Gilmore then hit two 3s, and Carr added another to get the Eagles back within 50-49, but JaJuan Smith swished in a 3 from the corner seconds later to push the lead back to four.

Point guard Derrick Mercer cut Tennessee’s lead to 53-51 with 5:25 left, but the Eagles never got back within one possession after a Chism 3 two minutes later.

Senior guard JaJuan Smith led the Vols with 19 points. Chism chipped in 16, and Tyler Smith had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Carr scored a game-high 26 points for the Eagles, while Gilmore added 14.

Lofton scored just five points on 1-for-7 shooting (0-for-5 behind the arcs).

Tennessee generally looked sloppy with an altered playing rotation in the first half, but the Vols regrouped enough to take a 29-22 lead at the break. UT starting point guard Ramar Smith and reserve freshman center Brian Williams didn’t leave the bench in the first 20 minutes for undisclosed reasons.

Senior Jordan Howell started in place of Ramar Smith, and sophomore wing J.P. Prince played some minutes at the point. Prince started the second half before Ramar Smith checked in for the first time with 16:25 left.

JaJuan Smith led the Vols with 10 points in the first half, and sophomore forward Tyler Smith added nine. Junior guard Garrison Carr led the Eagles with 12 points.

UT coach Bruce Pearl called timeout with in the first seven minutes after JaJuan Smith traveled and Prince was whistled for a carrying violation, leaving the Vols without a field-goal attempt on consecutive possessions while trailing 9-5.

Tennessee briefly rallied moments later, using a 9-0 run to take an 18-13 lead.

A Jordan Nichols free throw cut UT’s lead to 23-21 with 5:18 left in the first half, but the Vols finished the half on a 6-1 spurt to take a 29-22 lead.

Chism’s layup moments after the opening tip gave UT a 2-0 lead. The Vols stole the subsequent in-bounds pass, but Chism missed an open layup that would have given him four points in the first 20 seconds.

Carr hit a driving layup to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead in the first five minutes, and he added a 3-pointer to make it 9-5 with 14:33 left.

American had a 13-3 rebounding edge early in the half, finishing with 39-27 advantage on the glass.

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