Posted at 12:37 p.m., Friday, March 16, 2007
Tennessee ties points record in 121-86 win over 49ers
By Rusty Miller
Associated Press
Lofton led the way with 25 points as the Volunteers set off some offensive fireworks to beat Long Beach State 121-86 today — matching the most points scored by a team in a first-round NCAA tournament game.
"It really was (fun)," Lofton said. "We're used to playing like that. When a team plays (uptempo) like that, we get excited. It was just a fast-paced game.
"We put the 'fast' back in 'fast break."'
Catchy — and accurate. The point total equaled the most in a first-round game, set by UNLV in 1977 against San Francisco.
Both teams came in averaging 80 points — putting them among the top 11 in the nation — so it wasn't a shocker that baskets came in bunches.
But the numbers were nonetheless staggering for old-timers who believe defense drives teams into the elite field.
"I like an identity for a program. This is our identity," coach Bruce Pearl said. "We've never finished second in (any league in) scoring in 14 or 15 years I've been a head coach. We pride ourselves on, as Chris said, putting the fast back in fast break. We do. We want to be able to do that and win. I enjoy being uptempo and being aggressive in transition. We'll put four or five guys on the floor that can score, and they've got a lot of freedom."
The Volunteer (23-10) hit triple digits on a dunk by Duke Crews with more than 6› minutes left and then stepped on the gas to tie the school mark for points.
"They were scoring from all kinds of positions on the court," Long Beach State coach Larry Reynolds said.
JaJuan Smith added 24 points, Ramar Smith 22, Crews 12 and Wayne Chism 10 points. Dane Bradshaw had a career-best 11 assists.
"We didn't come in with a game plan that says we want to put up 100 on these guys," Bradshaw said. "It was just the flow of the game."
The Volunteers improved to 29-3 in Pearl's two years when scoring 80 or more points — a threshold they reached with 13 minutes remaining. They'll face Virginia in the second round of the South Regional on Sunday.
Kejuan Johnson scored 24 points, Aaron Nixon 23 and Kevin Houston 17 for the 12th-seeded 49ers (24-8), regular-season and tournament champs of the Big West who were making their first NCAA appearance in a dozen years.
Hawaii defeated Long Beach State at Long Beach this season.
Lofton, the Southeastern Conference player of the year, led the way as the Volunteers shot 59 percent from the field and made 14 of 27 3-pointers. He hit half of his eight shots behind the arc and JaJuan Smith hit 4-of-6.
