Though they hung in there for a while, the Cyclones were no match without Joshua Jefferson on Friday.
No. 6 Tennessee pulled away in the second half toknock off No. 2 Iowa State 76-62in Chicago on Friday night. That sent the Volunteers to their third straight Elite Eight, and has them once again just a single win away from reaching the program's first-ever Final Four.
The Vols will take on No. 1 Michigan on Sunday. TheWolverines beat Alabama 90-77 in their Sweet 16 matchupearlier on Friday.
Volunteers fend off Iowa State
Iowa State kept pace with Tennessee early even without Jefferson, who was still sidelined after he rolled his ankle early in the Cyclones' first-round win over Tennessee State. He was considered questionable going into Friday's contest, and head coach T.J. Otzelberger said it was going to be Jefferson's decision. But he wasn't ready to go, so Nate Heise took his spot in the starting lineup.
Heise held his own, and helped lift the Cyclones back into the lead just before halftime with a clutch corner 3-pointer. Killyan Toure hit Tamin Lipsey with a perfect behind-the-back pass after a steal just seconds later, too.
Felix Okpara put Tennessee back in the lead at the break, 34-33, after he hit a pair of free throws. He had a team-high 10 points and eight rebounds at halftime.
Advertisement
Tennessee then took off in the second half. The Vols scored on five of its first six possessions and went on a 18-8 run, capped by a Ja'Kobi Gillespie corner 3-pointer, to break open a double-digit lead.
The Vols pushed that lead to 14 points. While the Cyclones came close a couple of times to actually mounting a real rally — Milan Momcilovic drilled a 3-pointer with about four minutes left to make it an eight-point game in what was his first field goal of the second half, for example — Tennessee responded every time. After Momcilovic's bucket, the Vols found a wide open J.P. Estrella after an easy offensive rebound for a dunk.
From there, Tennessee held on the rest of the way to grab the 14-point win.
Lipsey led Iowa State with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists in the loss. Heise added 18 points, too. The duo were the only Cyclones to hit double figures. Iowa State shot just 5-of-23 from the 3-point line, and it was out-rebounded 43-22. They also missed 10 free throws on the night. Iowa State is now just 1-7 in the Sweet 16, which is the worst record of any program that's played at least seven games in that round of the NCAA tournament.
Nate Ament led Tennessee with 18 points, and Gillespie finished with 16 points despite shooting just 2-of-11 from behind the arc. Okpara finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jaylen Carey had a double-double off the bench with 11 points and 10 boards. The Vols had 17 turnovers in the win, too.
Tennessee will now get a chance to do what it hasn't been able to pull off the last two seasons. But in order to get to Indianapolis, it'll have to find a way past Michigan on Sunday. So far this season, that's been nearly impossible.
But once again, as has been custom in recent years, the Vols are on the doorstep of a Final Four.
