Florida Atlantic makes first Elite Eight, bounces Tennessee

Associated PressMar 24, 2023, 12:26 AM EDT

Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK — Florida Atlantic, playing in just its second NCAA Tournament, moved within a victory of the Final Four by using a second-half push led by Michael Forrest to beat fourth-seeded Tennessee 62-55 on Thursday night.

The ninth-seeded Owls (34-3) will play third-seeded Kansas State in the East Region final at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Even before the tournament started, this was the unquestionably the greatest season in FAU history. Now it the Owls are one of the biggest stories in all of sports.

Johnell Davis led the Owls with 15 points and Forrest finished with 11, eight in a crucial second-half run where FAU took control.

The Volunteers (25-11), who were looking for just the second Elite Eight appearance in program history, shot just 33% – including 6 of 23 from 3-point range. Josiah-Jordan James and Jonas Aidoo scored 10 points apiece.

UP NEXT

The Owls have never played Kansas State.

March Madness rout as Lady Vols reach second straight Sweet 16

Associated PressMar 20, 2023, 10:56 PM EDT

Syndication: The Knoxville News-Sentinel

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee is starting to look a lot more like the dominating Lady Vols of old, especially after a second straight rout to open the NCAA Tournament.

Reserves Sara Puckett and Jillian Hollingshead led five Lady Vols in double figures with 13 points apiece as fourth-seeded Tennessee dominated No. 12 seed Toledo 94-47 Monday night to advance to their second straight Sweet 16 in the Seattle 3 Regional.

This is the first time since 2015 and 2016 that Tennessee (25-11) has reached consecutive Sweet 16s and the first in coach Kellie Harper’s fourth season. The Lady Vols now have reached the Sweet 16 for the 36th time – most for any men’s or women’s team – as the only program to play in all 41 NCAA Tournaments.

“We’re so excited to be going back to the Sweet 16, and I’m really proud of our team and how we’ve played in these first two games,” Harper said. “I think we’ve played really well from top to bottom, our starters and our bench.”

Puckett was 5-of-7, making all three of her 3s. Rickea Jackson and Jasmine Powell each added 12, and Jordan Horston had 10 points and eight rebounds. The Lady Vols were 11-of-21 from 3 (52.4%), one made 3 away from matching their season high. Seven different players made at least one 3.

Yet the Lady Vols smothered the quick Rockets, holding them to 29% shooting (18 of 62). Harper said defense set the tone.

“To me, the bigger growth is the defensive end and our attention to detail defensively, our aggressiveness, our focus and and really just the belief,” Harper said. “And that’s where we can win games.”

Toledo (29-5) snapped a program record 17-game winning streak and missed out on its first Sweet 16. The Rockets lost for the first time since Jan. 18 at Bowling Green, which was avenged in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship for their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017.

Rockets coach Tricia Cullop said Tennessee’s size, athleticism and length is tough to prepare for in one day. She said they also needed the Lady Vols not to shoot well from 3 because of the size disadvantage.

“That didn’t work out so well,” Cullop said. “They were very hot from 3, which made it very difficult for us to match up, because we needed the double team in order to match up on the post.”

Quinesha Lockett led Toledo with 19 points.

“We really just tried our best to pack it in the paint, and once we did that they was hitting 3s, so really nothing we could do about that,” Lockett said.

Tennessee never trailed and improved to 30-3 all-time in the second round and 24-1 on the court named for the late Pat Summitt.

The Lady Vols, who won at least 25 games for a 38th season, scored the first three points. Toledo got within 5-4 on a Lockett layup. Then Tennessee took control and led 19-8 after the first quarter.

Karoline Striplin knocked down a pair of 3s within the first 50 seconds of the second, and Tennessee hit 6-of-8 beyond the arc in the quarter. The last came from Puckett with 41.7 seconds remaining for their biggest lead yet at 50-21 before going into halftime up 50-22.

“We knew what we needed to come in here and do, and we did exactly that,” Puckett said. “We’re not going to let our foot off the gas. That’s a big confidence boost for the team, but also me personally.”

The Lady Vols led 72-40 going into the fourth. Then they outscored Toledo 22-7 to finish, not allowing the Rockets to score even a single bucket over the final 6:11.

BIG PICTURE

Toledo: The Rockets head home still looking for the program’s first Sweet 16 berth. They are 4-9 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, Cullop will have her leading scorer back in Lockett along with four juniors, including starters Khera Goss, Sammi Mikonowicz and Jessica Cook. … The Rockets had hoped to use their speed to counter Tennessee’s height but were outscored 17-4 on the fast break.

Tennessee: The Lady Vols have locked down on defense in the first two games. They held Saint Louis to 50 points in the first round, the fewest they had allowed in this tournament since giving up 46 to Northwestern State on March 22, 2014. Then nearly matched that tournament low in this game as they dominated across the court.

According to ESPN, this is just the fourth time a team has won each of its first two games in the tournament by 45 points each. UConn did it in 2001, 2010 and 2016, winning the national title in 2010 and 2016.

DOUBLY SWEET

With this win, the Lady Vols joined the men who will play in the East Regional on Thursday night in New York. It’s the seventh time in school history both the women and men have reached the regional semifinals and first since 2016.

“I will say that right now is a lot of excitement on Rocky Top obviously with our men in the Sweet 16 as well,” Harper said. “It’s just a lot of fun, great vibes.”

UP NEXT

The Lady Vols get a rematch in the Sweet 16. They lost 59-56 on Dec. 4 to then-No. 9 Virginia Tech as part of the Jimmy V Women’s Classic in Knoxville without forward Rickea Jackson. That also was center Tamari Key’s last game before blood clots ended her season.

Tennessee beats up Duke, wins 65-52 to advance to Sweet 16

Associated PressMar 19, 2023, 2:58 PM EDT

Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports

ORLANDO, Fla. – Olivier Nkamhoua was a little hesitant to enter Tennessee’s postgame locker room after a career performance against powerhouse Duke in the NCAA Tournament. So Uros Plavsic picked him up and delivered him to teammates waiting to douse him with water.

It was a fitting payback considering Nkamhoua had carried the Volunteers much of the afternoon.

Nkamhoua tied his career high with 27 points, including 13 straight for Tennessee during a decisive stretch in the second half, and the fourth-seeded Volunteers bullied Duke 65-52 on Saturday to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.

“We’re a tough, hard-nosed team,” Nkamhoua said. “That’s how we play everybody. But knowing they had a lot of freshmen, we knew that if we come in and apply more pressure and be tough and physical, then they would have to deal with it.

“What we were saying before the game is we were going to bring them into the mud with us and make them play a tough, hard-nosed game and see if they were ready for it.”

They weren’t, and Tennessee’s experience – the Vols start four seniors – proved too much for Duke’s highly touted freshmen.

Santiago Vescovi added 14 points and five assists for Tennessee (25-10), which ended Duke’s 10-game winning streak and sent first-year coach Jon Scheyer – charged with replacing Mike Krzyzewski – home after just two NCAA Tournament games. Not sure Coach K could have done anything different to combat these Vols, who used a level of “bully ball” to send the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (27-9) packing.

“We feel we’re at our best when we can do that,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.

Nkamhoua made 10 of 13 shots and put an exclamation mark on Tennessee’s victory with an emphatic slam with 1:15 remaining. It prompted Vols fans to start chanting and sent Duke fans scrambling for the the exits.

“You have to really work for everything in a game like this,” said Scheyer, whose team turned the ball over 15 times and made just 6 of 22 from 3-point range. “You have to work to get open.”

Tennessee advanced to face Florida Atlantic or Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Duke didn’t handle Tennessee’s imposing style very well all afternoon. The Volunteers set the tone early, clearly wanting to push around Kyle Filipowski and get their hands in the faces of guards Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor.

Vols big man Uros Plavsic picked up two offensive fouls in the first four minutes, both going against Filipowski. Duke’s 7-footer later took an elbow to his face and ended up with a small cut under his left eye.

Proctor struggled to inbound the ball several times, getting a five-second call, turning it over once and nearly giving it up again. Roach had even more issues, picking up up his fourth foul with 15 minutes remaining and finishing with five turnovers.

“We prepare for a dogfight every game,” Nkamhoua said. “When we get people playing our game, it just guarantees that we’re going to be in our element.”

It helped that the Vols took much better care of the ball than they did in their first-round victory against Louisiana-Lafayette. They turned it over just nine times, half as many as they did Thursday and their fewest since point guard Zakai Zeigler sustained a season-ending knee injury last month.

Proctor led Duke with 16 points and six assists. Roach and Filipowski chipped in 13 points apiece. Dereck Lively II was scoreless but had 11 rebounds and two blocks.

“I thought we ran out of gas down the stretch,” Scheyer said.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: The Blue Devils played without 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward Mark Mitchell, who was a late scratch because of a knee injury. It’s unlikely Mitchell would have made a difference, but he surely would have helped down low against the Vols.

Tennessee: The Vols stumbled into the tournament having lost six of 10, but now they have a winning streak and have clearly re-established their identity as a big, physical, deep, defensive-minded team capable of giving anyone fits.

UP NEXT

Duke: The Blue Devils turn their attention to what happens with their talent-laden team and the NBA. All eyes will be on freshmen Dereck Lively II, Filipowski and Proctor and their pending decisions.

No. 25 Mizzou tops No. 17 Tennessee, 1st trip into SEC semis

Associated PressMar 11, 2023, 12:17 AM EST

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – First-year coach Dennis Gates is in a hurry to turn Missouri into champions and remains unhappy his Tigers missed the Southeastern Conference’s regular-season title.

Now they’re targeting the program’s first SEC Tournament crown and must go through the league’s regular season champ to get there.

Nick Honor hit a 3-pointer with 1:45 left to put Missouri ahead to stay, and the 25th-ranked Tigers beat No. 17 Tennessee 79-71 Friday to reach the SEC Tournament semifinals for the first time since joining the league in 2012.

“We wanted to cut down nets, hold trophies, hang banners as the regular-season champs,” said Gates, who was hired last March. “I credit Nate Oats and his program for their successes. It has taken too long for us to be able to do that, and I want it more.”

The Tigers (24-8) will play fourth-ranked Alabama on Saturday. The Crimson Tide, the regular-season champ, never trailed beating Mississippi State 72-49 earlier Friday. Shortly after this latest victory, Missouri announced a one-year contract extension for Gates through the 2028-29 season.

Missouri won its fifth straight this season to snap a three-game skid in the SEC quarterfinals. The Tigers did it by knocking off the defending tourney champ in a taut game featuring 15 ties and 11 lead changes.

The last tie was at 69, and Honor put Missouri ahead to stay with his 3. Gates credited Honor with telling him during a timeout to give him a ball screen.

“Sometimes you don’t listen to your players. I listen to mine,” Gates said. “We gave him a ball screen, and he was able to knock down a big-time 3-point shot.”

The Tigers then forced a turnover on Tennessee’s inbound pass by Julian Phillips. D’Moi Hodge knocked down another 3 to give the Tigers their biggest lead of the game at 75-69 with 1:25 remaining. Missouri finished on a 10-2 run for the win.

Hodge led Missouri with 26 points, 17 in the second half. Kobe Brown added 24 and nine rebounds, and DeAndre Gholston had 10.

Tennessee (23-10) snapped a 41-year drought in this event by winning the tourney title in Tampa last year. Now these Volunteers go into the NCAA Tournament having lost four of seven overall.

“The biggest prize that we want to go after is still out there,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.

Santiago Vescovi led five Vols in double digits with 17 points. Tyreke Key had 16, Jahmai Mashack 14, Olivier Nkamhoua added 11 points and 10 rebounds and Julian Phillips 10.

Missouri took the lead for the last time on a pair of free throws by Brown with 4:12 left.

The Volunteers led 33-30 at halftime thanks to Mashack answering a 3-pointer by Brown with 11 seconds left by beating the buzzer with his own 3. Mashack made it just after crossing the half-court line.

BIG PICTURE

Tennessee has the best defense in all of Division I except against against Missouri. The Vols came in holding opponents to a nation-low 25.8% shooting from 3-point range and 36.4% from the floor. They also had been holding opponents to an average of 57.4 points a game.

Missouri improved to a perfect 9-0 in games decided by five or fewer points. The Tigers came into the postseason among eight teams unbeaten in such games and the only team with at least eight such wins. … The Tigers shot 60% (18 of 30) in the second half, and that included knocking down 7 of 13 (58.3%) outside the arc.

Brown said running against the Vols was the key.

“Hard to play defense when you can’t get back and get in front of the other team,” Brown said.

REPLACING ZEIGLER

This was just the third full game for the Vols without point guard Zakai Zeigler, who tore his left ACL early in a win over Arkansas on Feb. 28. Barnes sees the final minutes where they miss Ziegler the most.

“We’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do,” Barnes said.

UP NEXT

The Volunteers now wait for the NCAA Tournament bracket announcement Sunday and lower seeding than expected when Tennessee was ranked as high as No. 2 earlier this season.

Missouri now has a chance to improve its own NCAA seeding while still chasing the program’s first SEC Tournament title.

Alabama’s Brandon Miller is AP SEC Player, Newcomer of the Year

Associated PressMar 7, 2023, 1:00 PM EST

Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama freshman Brandon Miller is The Associated Press player of the year and newcomer of the year in the Southeastern Conference.

Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams was named coach of the year in voting by 14 reporters who cover the SEC.

Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV and Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe, last year’s national player of the year, were unanimous first-team picks. The other first-team selections are Missouri guard/forward Kobe Brown and Mississippi State forward Tolu Smith.

Miller was a first-team pick on all but one ballot, received 12 player of the year votes and 11 as top newcomer for the regular-season SEC champions and No. 4-ranked Crimson Tide. The 6-foot-9 forward is only the fourth freshman in the last 50 years to lead the SEC in scoring, averaging 19.6 points along with 8.0 rebounds. He is also tops in 3-pointers made, making 92 and hitting at a 40.4% rate.

Miller’s name surfaced in court testimony in the capital murder case of now-former teammate Darius Miles and another man in the shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris near campus.

A police officer testified that Miles texted Miller asking him to bring Miles’ gun in the early morning hours of Jan. 15. Fellow freshman starter Jaden Bradley was also at the scene. Neither has missed a start or been accused of any crime. The university has described Miller as a cooperating witness, not a suspect.

A day after that testimony, Miller scored 41 points and hit the game-winning shot in overtime to beat South Carolina amid jeers from Gamecocks fans. Afterward, Alabama coach Nate Oats called Miller “one of the most mentally tough kids I’ve ever coached.”

The Aggies’ Taylor also received two votes as player of the year. LSU forward KJ Williams, Arkansas guards Ricky Council IV and Anthony Black each received a vote for newcomer of the year.

Williams received eight votes, Missouri’s Dennis Gates five and Alabama’s Oats one in the coach of the year balloting.

The second team included Council, Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler, Williams, Florida forward Colin Castleton and Vanderbilt forward Liam Robbins.

FIRST TEAM

Guard – Kobe Brown, Missouri, Sr., 6-8, 250, Huntsville, Alabama.

u-Guard – Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M, So., 6-0, 185, Dallas.

Forward – Brandon Miller, Alabama, Fr., 6-9, 200, Antioch, Tennessee.

Forward – Tolu Smith, Mississippi St., Sr., 6-11, 245, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

u-Forward – Oscar Tshwiebe, Sr., 6-9, 260, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

SECOND TEAM

Guard – Ricky Council IV, Arkansas, Jr., 6-6, 205, Durham, North Carolina.

Guard – Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee, So., 5-9, 171, Long Island, New York.

Forward – Colin Castleton, Florida, Sr., 6-11, 250, Deland, Florida.

Forward – Liam Robbins, Vanderbilt, Sr., 7-0, 250, Davenport, Iowa.

Forward – KJ Williams, LSU, Sr,, 6-10, 250, Cleveland, Mississippi.

—

Coach of the year – Buzz Williams, Texas A&M.

Player of the year – Brandon Miller, Alabama.

Newcomer of the year – Brandon Miller, Alabama.

— AP All-SEC Voting Panel: Rick Bozich, WDRB-TV, Louisville, Kentucky; Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun; Travis Brown, Bryan-College Station Eagle; David Cloninger, Post & Courier; Adam Cole, Opelika-Auburn News; Clayton Collier, WATN-TV, Memphis, Tennessee; Robbie Faulk, Starkville Daily News; Aria Gerson, The Tennessean; Bob Holt, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Stefan Krajisnik, Clarion-Ledger; Dave Matter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Sheldon Mickles, Baton Rouge Advocate; Mike Rodak, al.com; Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald.

Tennessee PG Zakai Zeigler suffers season-ending knee injury

Associated PressMar 2, 2023, 12:39 PM EST

Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

The 12th-ranked Volunteers announced that Zeigler tore his left ACL in a win over Arkansas. Zeigler is leading the Southeastern Conference in assists, averaging 5.4 per game.

He’s also tied for second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.7 points, while leading the team and ranking in the SEC’s top 5 in steals. Zeigler is one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Zeigler is one of just seven Tennessee players who have averaged 10-plus points and at least five assists per game in a season. He had five double-doubles with points and assists this season to tie the program’s career record set by Rodney Woods from 1972-75.