Orange Nation - News - Vols to Sweet 16 (page 1)

Vols to Sweet 16

In another game that had fans on pins and needles through the afternoon, the Tennessee Volunteers are moving on to the Sweet 16 in Charlotte.

U.T. beat the Butler Bulldogs Sunday afternoon 76 to 71 in Birmingham.

In overtime, JaJuan Smith found Wayne Chism in the paint for an easy two putting the Vols up 70-68 with less than a minute to play.

On the next possession, Tyler Smith blocked a Butler drive toward the rim, UT recovered the ball, and went on offense again.

Chris Lofton then took the ball down the court, feeding Ramar Smith who kissed the ball off the glass, through the hoop and was fouled.

He missed the free throw but it was a two possession game that Butler couldn't come back from as the Vols sank their free throws as time ticked by.

To get to overtime, the Bulldogs played come from behind ball.

Butler tied the game with 30 seconds to play. Tennessee then took the ball to half court and called a time out.

J.P. Prince was then called for traveling with 4.1 seconds left, giving Butler possession of the basketball. But they couldn't convert, sending the game to overtime.

The Vols held Butler, a hot-shooting team from three-point land to roughly 33% shooting.

At the same time, Tennessee struggled to shoot from a distance. The Vols made 25% of their shots from beyond the arc.

Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism led the Vols to victory in what was a balanced attack.

10 Volunteers scored, Smith and Chism led the way. Smith had 17 and Chism had 16 points on the afternoon.

For the second straight game, Chris Lofton was held to fewer than 10 points. Against Butler, he scored 9. 4 Bulldogs scored in double digits, led by A.J. Graves who poured in 21 as the game's high scorer.

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