Mark WiedmerCOLUMBUS, Ohio - Tennessee junior point guard Jordan Bone breathed a sigh of relief late Friday afternoon. The Volunteers having just outlasted Colgate 77-70 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament's South Regional, Bone said, "They prepped us well for our upcoming game with Iowa."
That game will take place at 12:10 p.m. Sunday inside a Nationwide Arena that shouldn't be nearly as hostile as UT once expected it to be, because the 10th-seeded Hawkeyes upset seventh-seeded Cincinnati just before the Big Orange took the court against the Raiders.
But what somewhat took place between second-seeded UT and 15th-seeded Colgate - the little guy either winning outright or scaring the overpriced sneakers off Big State U - is replicating itself throughout every region in this tournament.
The small fry have come to play in a big way. UC Irvine stunned Kansas State while the Volunteers were holding off the Raiders. Gardner-Webb - though eventually subdued by South No. 1 seed Virginia - led the Cavaliers by 14 early and by six at halftime. Oklahoma shredded Ole Miss.
Heading into Friday night's final opening-round games, the lower-seeded team had prevailed eight times in 24 contests. That figure should grow this weekend, the 3-point shot becoming the great equalizer when one team has the ability to build its offense around it (Wofford and Iowa, come on down) and the other one uses it only in desperation.
Fortunately for the Vols, they have the best of both worlds on offense. They play smash-mouth basketball if you let them, pounding it inside to two-time Southeastern Conference player of the year Grant Williams for layups and dunks and three-point plays the old-fashioned way. Senior center Kyle Alexander occasionally shines inside as well.
But when the Vols want to, they can rain down 3-pointers with the best of them.
Merely consider all four of the Vols' made baskets in the final 4:43 against Colgate. The Vols led 60-58 at that moment after being on top by 12 at intermission, 42-30. Beyond that, they had missed seven of their eight 3-point attempts in the second half.
But then Bone hit a 3-pointer to put Tennessee up five. Admiral Schofield - who led the Vols with 19 points but hadn't hit a 3-pointer all afternoon - then buried three straight treys from the right corner. The last of those, with 45 seconds left on the game clock, moved UT ahead by nine, 73-64, and ended any reasonable doubt about which team would advance and which would head home.
"With Admiral, he's been in so many games this year where he's knocked down tough shots, big-time shots at a critical moment," Bone said. "And he did that today."
For the most part, critical moments are what the Vols do best, as one might expect from a unit that starts two seniors and three juniors and relies on no freshman for important contributions. Think eight down with 2:45 to play against Kentucky in last week's SEC tourney semifinal. Think the comeback win over Gonzaga in December. Or the comeback wins at Florida and Vanderbilt. Or the ridiculous ease in which they erased that early 19-7 deficit to West Virginia.
The Vols may sometimes be slow to warm, but they almost always finish hot. So even as Colgate sophomore guard Jordan Burns was tossing in eight treys on his way to a game-high 32 points, the Vols were knocking down nine from outside the arc and 21 baskets that counted two points each to prevail.
"As the game got close, I thought Tennessee managed it really well," said Colgate coach Matt Langel, whose team actually led for one minute and 17 seconds, the last time at 52-50 with 10:52 to play.
"Schofield stepped up and made some huge corner jump shots. It ends up being the difference in the game."
Afterward, UT coach Rick Barnes said of Schofield's final 3-pointer: "Admiral's last 3 was the exact same play we ran at Florida to win the game down there."
In many ways, this was a win-win for the tournament. Tennessee, the best team on the floor, advanced. Colgate, the best story, delivered a performance for its fans, alumni and players to talk about for years to come.
"This is what you dream about as a kid," the Raiders' Will Rayman said afterward. "This is what you watch on TV. We were just all having a really good time out there."
Added Burns: "It was great going out there with this big crowd (19,641) and being able to stay in the game and almost winning the game. It was amazing."
For Barnes it wasn't so much amazing as affirming. He entered this tournament believing his team could take a punch or two and still prevail. Coming from behind after blowing an early lead supported that belief.
"I think a game like today is what makes the NCAA tournament the NCAA tournament," he said. "To get through this tournament you're going to have games like this. (The Vols) knew what they had to do and they did it."
We won't know until Sunday if they can do it again against the Hawkeyes, who dropped in 11 triples themselves in stunning Cincinnati after the Bearcats raced in front 18-5 to open the game. But the Vols certainly did what they needed to do when they needed to do it most against Colgate.
"They were the No. 1 team in the country for a stint this season because of their ability to do what they do," Langel said.
If Tennessee can keep doing it for five more games, it might just might find a way to finish No. 1.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.