PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- They could be this NCAA tournament's most dangerous team -- the only team in the field that can say it beat both Kansas and Kentucky, both No. 1 seeds, this season. And after a gut-wrenching 62-59 first-round victory over San Diego State Thursday night, the Tennessee Volunteers are still alive.It took everything Tennessee had to hold off the Mountain West champion Aztecs. Melvin Goins appeared to put the game away with a clutch 3-pointer in the final minute, but with 9.5 seconds left he fouled San Diego State's D.J. Gay while Gay was shooting a 3-pointer. Gay's shot missed (as nearly all the shots in this game did), but he hit all three free throws to cut the lead back down to one point.
Fouled on the inbound play, Wayne Chism made two free throws to push the lead back to three, and Kawhi Leonard's game-tying attempt missed everything at the buzzer.
"The toughest one sometimes is the first one," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. "So yes, it is a little bit of a relief to get that one behind us."
Pearl said the key for him was his team's ability to limit San Diego State on the offensive boards. The Aztecs were one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, averaging 14 offensive boards. They had just 11 on Thursday night. And they had plenty of missed shots from which to try and pump up those numbers.
The final shot dropped Leonard, who was San Diego State's leading scorer, to 5-for-15 from the field for the game, including 0-for-4 from 3-point range. As a team, the Aztecs shot 38.5 percent from the field and 16.7 percent (3-for-18) from the arc.
Tennessee didn't shoot any better; the Vols hit just 39.2 percent from the field. And when San Diego State's defense clamped down in the second half, they were almost helpless. But they had enough at the end to hold off the Aztecs, and the tournament's top two seeds now know that the team that beat them both is still alive and still has a chance to get them again.
Key Element
Free throws. Tennessee made them all down the stretch and was 14-for-18 from the line in a game in which nobody could hit from the field. Chism's pair that put the Vols up three with seconds to go were the biggest, because everybody in the building knew San Diego State wasn't about to hit a three.
Game Ball Goes To
Tennessee guard J.P. Prince, who had 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block for a stat-sheet Yahtzee that helped pace the Vols on a tough offensive night. Honorable mention here to Goins, who came off the bench to hit 3-of-4 three-pointers and prove to the rest of the players in the game that the hoop was, indeed, regulation size.
Heart Goes Out ToLeonard, San Diego State's forward who couldn't buy a bucket. He scored 2 points, collected 10 rebounds and three blocks and did everything he could to keep the Aztecs in it. If just one of his long-range shots had fallen, his team might have found itself in overtime with a chance to knock off the Vols.
What's Next
Tennessee will take on 14th-seeded Ohio in the second game here Saturday afternoon. The Bobcats shot 58.2 percent from the field, including 56.5 percent from 3-point range, in their first-round upset of third-seeded Georgetown earlier Thursday night
"All we know is we're playing a team that was good enough to beat Georgetown," Pearl said. "So we'll have no trouble getting ready and respecting our opponent."
