The team made good on nearly half of their 65 shots from the field and hit a staggering 57% of 21 three-point attempts. They had 28 rebounds, and their bench contributed 18 points on their way to a total of 86 points for the game, which incidentally, is the same number as the average points scored by No. 1 seed North Carolina.
And they were on the wrong side of a blowout.
As good as Long Beach State's stats were in yesterday's first round match up against Tennessee, they blanched in comparison to those compiled by a Volunteer team firing on all cylinders for the entire 40 minutes. 86 points by the 49ers? Great. Fantastic. 121 points by the Volunteers? Stupefying.
|
Tennessee
|
Long Beach State
|
|
| Field Goals |
43-73 (59%)
|
32-65 (49%)
|
| 3-Point FGs |
14-27 (52%)
|
12-21 (57%)
|
| Free Throws |
21-30 (70%)
|
10-14 (71%)
|
| Rebounds |
43 (16 off, 27 def)
|
28 (9 off, 19 def)
|
| Assists |
25
|
11
|
| Turnovers |
6
|
13
|
| Assist/Turnover Ratio |
4.16
|
.86
|
| Points off Turnovers |
22
|
7
|
| Steals |
11
|
2
|
| Fastbreak Points |
15
|
4
|
| Bench Points |
32
|
18
|
Are you kidding me? An assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.16? Google "best NCAA men's basketball assist to turnover ratio" and you'll get a bunch of results indicating that a 2.0 -2.5 assist to turnover ratio is really good. But a 4.16? Stellar. Unheard of. (By the way, CBS Sportsline, this would be helpful, but returns an error.)
As the assist-to-turnover ratio suggests, everybody got into the action. Five Vols scored double digits (Lofton (25), J. Smith (24), R. Smith (22), Crews (12), Chism (10), and the team shattered into indiscernible pieces a truck full of Tennessee records in the NCAA Tournament:
| UT NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAM RECORDS BROKEN | ||
| Category | Record | Previous Mark |
| Points | 121 | 97 vs. Eastern Kentucky (3/9/79) |
| FG Made | 43 | 36 (twice) last vs. Furman (3/6/80) |
| FG Pct | 58.9 | 56.8 (21-37) vs. Marquette (3/18/83) |
| 3-pt FG Made | 14 | 10 (twice) last vs. Wichita State (3/18/06) |
| 3-pt FG Pct | 51.9 | 41.2 (7-17) vs. Connecticut (3/19/00) |
| Turnovers | 6 | 8 (twice) last vs. Connecticut (3/19/00) |
| Points (1st half) | 57 | 44 vs. Eastern Kentucky (3/9/79) |
| Points (2nd half) | 64 | 53 vs. Eastern Kentucky (3/9/79) |
| UT NCAA TOURNAMENT INDIVIDUAL RECORDS BROKEN/TIED | ||
| 3-pt FG Pct | 66.7 (4-6) by JaJuan Smith | 50.0 by four others |
| Offensive Rebs. | 8 by Duke Crews | 5 by four others |
| Steals | 4 by Chris Lofton | 4 by two others |
Of course, when the team scores 41 points more than its average, you'd expect to break some records. You'd also expect some amusing quotes.
Say, this one, from JaJuan Smith, who shook off a miserable performance against LSU in the SEC Tournament:
But first, Virginia tomorrow.
Hulk Smash!