COLUMBUS, Ohio— Iowa’s miracle comeback turned into a class near miss during a 83-77 overtime loss to Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA South sub-regionals here yesterday at Nationwide Arena.
The second seeded Vols, who led Iowa, 44-19, with 4:24 left in the first half, found a way to survive and advance to a Sweet 16 matchup against Purdue next Thursday in Louisville.“I feel like the kid who just ate Skittles,’’ said Tennessee’s forward and SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams who scored 19 points and took the game over in the five-minute overtime, scoring eight of his points as the Vols jumped out to an 80-73 lead and held on from there.
His coach Rick Barnes was reaching for the Tums after avoiding what could have been a monumental meltdown and left deep scars on a rising SEC program that has reinvented itself in just four years after Barnes arrived.
Williams normally gets help from his teammate Admiral Schofield, but the Vols’ valuable guard—who scored 19 points– was playing with four fouls and sensed Iowa’s size was hurting Tennessee once 6-9 forward Tyler Cook, Iowa’s leading scorer, finally came out of hibernation and scored all 11 of his points in the final 25 minutes after shooting 0 for 5 in the first half and the 10th seeded Big Ten Hawkeyes put on a furious rally, volunteered to sit at the end of the regulation and the five minutes of overtime and allow Barnes to go with a bigger lineup with 6-11 senior forward Kyle Alexander.
“‘He didn’t want to play,’’ Barnes said. ‘He kept saying leave Kyle in the game. Kyle is important. With four fouls, he knew they would come right at him. He said ‘Coach, I can’t guard the way I can guard I’m going to foul. So, you need to leave Kyle in.’ We knew they were going to keep trying to punch it inside
“Kyle was phenomenal tonight,’’ Williams said. ‘He was on the glass. He was a presence defensively. He was doing his job and it’s all love.’’
“Hey coach,’’ he added, how is your suit? A little wet?”
Barnes’ suit was soaked from the bath he got from the players as he entered the locker room. “I got soaked and when my hair gets wet it doesn’t look that good,’’ Barnes said.
It was a small price to pay after Schofield’s big sacrifice. “I’m a winner, it wasn’t tough for me,’’ he said. ‘It was the right thing to do and Kyle was playing really well.Alexander played the final 14 seconds of regulation and all of the overtime while Schofield sat. He finished with nine points, eight rebounds and a block.
“I’m not trying to say I’m the key X factor,’’ Alexander said. “But I do believe I offer something to this team that’s different and unique. The ability to get us extra possessions, the ability to just alter shots so my teammates can go grab rebounds, the ability to protect the rim.‘For Admiral to take himself out of the game. . . it shows his trust in me.’’
Tennessee survived despite shooting just 7 for 21 in the second half and allowing Iowa to outscore them, 59-29, in the second half. Iowa deserved credit for its courage and perseverance for a second straight game.
“It was kind of just like the Cincinnati game when we had that timeout when we were down 18-5,’’ 6-10 center Luka Garza said. “In the locker room at halftime you could tell something was about to happen. All the guys were communicating with each other, believing in each other. Our leaders were stepping up and talking to each other to make sure we weren’t going down without a fight. And we were going to leave everything out there.’’
McCaffery specifically challenged players like Cook to be who they were. ‘’I knew he was better than that,’’ McCaffery said. ‘’The same with Luca.’’
Iowa put all five starters in double figures, led by guard Jordan Bohannan, who finished with 18 points. Garca had 13. They got to the line 17 times in the second half, making I6, including two free throws from guard Joe Wieskamp that tied the game at 71-71 with 20 seconds to play in regulation.
