BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The second-seeded Tennessee Volunteers scrapped, pounded and grabbed. They also survived. No coincidence in that.
The Volunteers mostly ditched the glamorous 3-pointer and got physical in Sunday’s second round of the NCAA Tournament, moving on with a 76-71 overtime victory over Butler.
Tennessee (31-4) got a little assist from legendary Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, who called her men’s counterpart a few hours before the game.
“She said, ‘Just tell those guys to rebound the basketball,’ ” Bruce Pearl said of his colleague, whose seven women’s national titles make her something of an expert.
JaJuan Smith hit four straight free throws in the final 13.6 seconds of overtime and the Volunteers barely won a game they at times threatened to turn into a rout.
The earliest game to feature two 30-win teams definitely lived up to the distinction.
Tennessee scored 38 points in the paint, had five players with multiple fouls by halftime and made only two 3-pointers in the final 40 minutes against the Bulldogs (30-4).
“Fatigue was a factor for them at some point, because of the way we guarded them,” Pearl said. “We really played great defense tonight and did what we needed to do on the boards.”
The approach paid off at the end.
The Volunteers scored six straight points inside after the Bulldogs took their first lead in the final two minutes of overtime, including guard Ramar Smith’s basket with 27 seconds left to make it 72-68.
Louisville 78, Oklahoma 48
Earl Clark scored 14 points and the Cardinals played to near-perfection on both ends in routing the Sooners.
Louisville harassed freshman star Blake Griffin with double-team defense down low, trapped the Sooners and ran every chance it got.
Starting five players born outside Kentucky, the third-seeded Cardinals (26-8) reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005.
North Carolina 108, Arkansas 77
RALEIGH, N.C.Wayne Ellington scored 20 points and the Tar Heels raced to a double-figure lead in the first five minutes.
Ty Lawson had 19 points and seven assists for the top- seeded Tar Heels (34-2), who followed their first-round rout of Mount St. Mary’s with another impressive offensive display.
