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BOX SCORE
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- In what had been a rough and physical
game, a light touch ended up deciding it.
Tony Harris made two free throws with 10.8 seconds to play to
help Tennessee seal a 63-58 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on
Friday in the first round of the NCAA South Regional.
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Ron Slay's aggressive play on the backboard in the final few seconds
saved Tennessee from an embarrassing loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.
Assistant coaches in the SEC said the Volunteers tend to be too
soft, but Slay was the type of aggressor Tennessee needed to stave off an
upset. He grabbed a rebound off a missed Tony Harris free throw to keep
the ball in Tennessee's hands in the final few seconds.
The Volunteers didn't play with enough intensity to beat South Carolina in the SEC
tournament. If Slay can't energize the rest of the frontcourt in Round 2,
they'll be in trouble.
Harris got off to a slow start but got to the free-throw line in the
second half. Harris will have to be aggressive against Khalid
El-Amin on Saturday, assuming El-Amin can recover from his sprained ankle. Getting to the line may be the only chance they have to advance.
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The free throws ended a controversial sequence that cost the
13th-seeded Ragin Cajuns' (25-9) a chance to upset the
fourth-seeded Volunteers (25-6).
"Often times you see phantom calls that you have to be right on
top of to see," Louisiana-Lafayette coach Jessie Evans said. "I
guess that's how it was today."
Louisiana-Lafayette cut Tennessee's lead to two at 60-58 on
Brett Smith's jumper with 45 seconds to play. With the shot clock
running down, Harris made a move to the basket and appeared to turn
the ball over to Smith.
But Smith was called for a questionable reach-in foul that sent
Harris to the line with 15 seconds to play. Smith was positive he
didn't foul Harris.
"I just looked at the crowd and was like 'What just happened?'" Smith said. "I couldn't have made that steal any cleaner than that."
Harris missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but the Cajuns
claimed a referee was talking to them during the shot and
distracted them from going after the rebound.
"We're taught to listen to the ref," Evans said. "I guess we
should have been using peripheral vision instead."
Ron Slay got the rebound and was flagrantly fouled by Smith with
13 seconds to go -- allowing Tennessee to keep the ball after the
free throws. Smith admitted to being frustrated when he hacked at
Slay after the rebound, but Slay took some of the credit for
getting the flagrant call.
"I was partly fouled and the other part was me working on my
Oscar performance," Slay said.
After Slay missed both free throws, Tennessee inbounded to
Harris, who was promptly fouled.
Harris, 4-for-14 from the field, hit both shots to prevent the
Volunteers from yet another NCAA tournament early exit. The Vols
have not advanced past the second round in their previous 11
tournament appearances.
Five technical fouls were called -- both teams were hit with
double-technicals for shoving in the first half -- and both coaches
were brought together seven minutes into the game by the referees.
|  | | Tennessee's Ron Slay grabbed a key rebound to seal the Vols' win. |
"Both teams are capable of playing the finesse game or the
physical game," Tennessee coach Jerry Green said. "We were both
playing with a high energy level today."
But Evans said he regretted not settling the Cajuns down after
he was told to. Reggie DeGray was called for the Cajuns' third
technical away from the basket midway through the second half, and
Evans said the calls seemed to go against them from there.
"Maybe my guys were a little too physical and maybe I should
have pulled them back a bit," Evans said. "But it's tough when
that style of play is what got you here."
Louisiana-Lafayette was called for 41 fouls -- 10 more than
Tennessee -- and the Volunteers went 23-for-29 at the line. The free throws kept Tennessee in the game. The Vols trailed through most of it -- and by as many as 12 in the first half -- but
took the lead for good at 56-54 on Slay's jumper with 4:07 to play.
Harris and Slay led Tennessee with 15 points each. C.J. Black
added 14 and Vincent Yarborough scored 11. Lonnie Thomas led Louisiana-Lafayette with 19 points. Orlando
Brown scored 12, but only two in the second half.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Louisiana Lafayette NCAA Team Report
Tennessee NCAA Team Report
Chat: NCAA Tourney
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Post-game news conference from Tennessee's win over Louisiana-Lafayette.
RealVideo: | 28.8
 C.J. Black wants a root beer soda.
wav: 86 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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