CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was very ugly for Tennessee, but it was also very sweet.
The Volunteers shot just 3-of-25 from 3-point range and Dalton Knecht had one of his worst nights of the season, but they still managed to power their way to a 62-58 surviving of Texas on Saturday inside the Spectrum Center. Tennessee used a resounding defensive effort and clutch play in the waning moments to punch its ticket to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 in the Midwest Region, which will be held Friday night in Detroit.
The second-seeded Vols (26-8) will face No. 3 seed Creighton (25-9), which beat 11th-seeded Oregon in double overtime Saturday in Pittsburgh.
This marks Tennessee's first consecutive trips to the Sweet 16 since the 2007 and 2008 tournaments. No. 7 seed Texas finished the season 21-13.
"It was really an incredible effort by both teams, and it's exactly the way we described this game as we were getting our players ready," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "These are the kind of games in the tournament where you get bounced when you shoot as poorly as we did, but we found a way with our defense. Our 10 extra shots that we got were important to us, and all we kept talking about in timeouts was to keep taking our shots.
"I'm proud of our team and the way they stayed with it on a night where we just struggled shooting the ball."
Knecht scored a game-high 18 points for the Vols but was 5-of-18 from the floor. What he did have under control was his free-throw shooting, making a pair with nine seconds left and then two more with three seconds remaining, which sandwiched a Tyrese Hunter 3-pointer with four seconds to play that made it a 60-58 contest.
Jonas Aidoo added 11 points for the Vols, while Tobe Awaka came off the bench to add 10.
"I wanted the ball in my hands," Knecht said. "The whole team had trust in me despite my shooting performance to take those shots, and I can't thank my teammates enough."
Tennessee made 22 of 65 shots for the game (33.8%) after a 10-of-35 performance (28.6%) in the first half but took a a 28-19 halftime lead thanks to its relentless defense that forced 11 turnovers. Awaka came off the bench to amass eight points and four rebounds, but he picked up his third foul with 5:46 before halftime.
"I think it definitely gave us a boost," Awaka said of his play. "I just wanted to play aggressive but composed, and it's a credit to our guards for finding me in the right place."
Zakai Zeigler accounted for Tennessee's first made 3-pointer at the 2:05 mark of the half to put the Vols up 26-17, and a driving layup by Knecht with 1:27 remaining gave them a double-digit advantage at 28-17.
Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee's Hunter Ensley watches the flight of his two-run home run during the second inning of Saturday night's loss to Ole Miss inside Lindsey Nelson Stadium.Baseball Vols lose
Tennessee took a 5-4 lead into the ninth inning Saturday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, but Vols relief pitchers AJ Russell and Aaron Combs couln't hold it as Ole Miss erupted for four runs to pull out an 8-5 victory.
Tennessee dropped to 20-4 overall and to 2-3 in SEC play, while the Rebels improved to 17-7 and 3-2. The rubber match of the three-game series is set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Vols had taken their 5-4 advantage in the eighth on Blake Burke's single to right field that scored Cal Stark.
Hunter Ensley's two run home run to left field gave Tennessee a 2-1 lead in the second inning. Andrew Fisher's home run to right-center field in the sixth put Ole Miss up 3-2, and the Rebels made it 4-2 later in the sixth on a throwing error by Stark.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.