Tennessee Basketball: Vols advance to Round of 32 with win over Colgate

The Tennessee Volunteers survived and advanced on Friday, pulling out a 77-70 win over the Colgate Raiders in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tennessee Volunteers had to battle the red-hot shooting of Jordan Burns but pulled out a win thanks to clutch shooting down the stretch from Admiral Schofield.

The Volunteers dominated the game in the paint but were able to knock down three’s down the stretch to give them the victory.

Game Recap

Tennessee jumped out to a hot start, scoring the first nine points of the game. The Raiders chipped at the Tennessee lead throughout the first half, but the Volunteers opened this game wide open. Lamonte Turner and Grant Williams knocked down consecutive shots to put the Volunteers lead at 16 points. Colgate knocked down some tough shots late in the first half to cut the Volunteers lead to 42-30 at halftime.

It looked like the Volunteers were going to be able to run away with the game at this point, but Burns kept Colgate in this game. Kyle Alexander hit an early shot in the second half and Jordan Bone knocked down a three, but those were the only field goals the Volunteers hit for an eight-minute stretch.

The Raiders began the second half red-hot, making six three-pointers in the first 10 minutes. They even took the lead on the Volunteers at the 12:09 mark after Tucker Richardson knocked down a free throw to give them a 49-48 lead.

The Volunteers were able to answer though, scoring eight straight points in the paint. Tennessee was able to keep a one or two-bucket lead down the stretch after Burns knocked down numerous tough shots to keep Colgate in the game.

Schofield continued his clutch performances in late games as he knocked down three three-pointers in the last four minutes.

The Volunteers were able to close out the Raiders in a very tough game. Tennessee will now take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday. The tip-off has yet to be determined, but will likely come out once Friday’s Round of 64 games end. The Hawkeyes are coming off of a win against No. 7 seed Cincinnati in a game where they knocked down 11 three-pointers.

Immediate Reaction

It was a tough game that was too close for comfort. Colgate’s Burns can ball, and he showed that today against a Tennessee team that struggles to defend the three-ball. Burns finished this game with 32 points, including an outstanding 8-13 from beyond the arc. Tennessee guarded him tough all game long, but he responded throughout the game.

A few things concern me after this game. The Volunteers played into Colgate’s game. Colgate likes to shoot the three-ball, and they like to shoot it a lot. Does that sound familiar? Yes, yes it does, considering the Volunteers were exploited defensively by Auburn in the SEC Championship Game. Tennessee attempted 26 three-pointers, making just nine of them.

Throughout the year, Tennessee had worn down opponents after starting inside-out, but it seemed like the Volunteers went away from that today. Williams only posting nine points is a prime example of that. Williams only attempted seven shots all game long, which should not happen the rest of this tournament. When Tennessee runs their offense through Williams, they open up so many opportunities, whether it’s a kick out to Bowden, Bone, or Turner from the three, or a quick pass to a driving Schofield.

It seemed like the Volunteers offense was too complacent at times, settling for three-pointers, while not really running an offense. Colgate sagged off a little bit on defense which is why the Volunteers attempted so many threes to begin with. That ended up hurting them late though, as Schofield knocked down some tough threes after struggling throughout the game.

Tennessee will have to change some things up before Sunday. Iowa, like Colgate, likes to shoot the ball from beyond the arc. Jordan Bohannon and Joe Wieskamp can knock down threes all game long, so the Volunteers will have to stay on those guys all game long. Williams, Alexander, and John Fulkerson will have to slow down Iowa’s big man, Luka Garza. Garza led the Hawkeyes in scoring in their win against Cincinnati. He posted 20 points and also knocked down two three-pointers.