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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Minus Khalid El-Amin, defending champion
Connecticut never stood a chance against Tennessee.
Hobbled by a sprained right ankle, El-Amin was largely
ineffective for the fifth-seeded Huskies, who looked lost Sunday in
a 65-51 loss to fourth-seeded Tennessee in the second round of the
NCAA South Regional.
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Sun, March 19
Connecticut playing without Khalid El-Amin was akin to Temple sans Pepe Sanchez.
The Huskies never seemed to find a groove when El-Amin wasn't on the floor. With him hobbled Sunday with a sprained ankle, they didn't have a chance. The Huskies became too one-dimensional this season and weren't a factor to repeat as national champions without another complementary player.
El-Amin faces a decision on staying for his senior season or going to the NBA. If he returns, the Huskies have a chance to get back into the mix next season, with recruit Caron Butler
as a potential big-time scorer.
Without El-Amin, the Huskies have a replacement in incoming freshman Taliek Brown to go with Tony Robertson, but UConn can expect a rebuilding phase if El-Amin leaves. He dominated this team's attack too much this season to predict anything else.
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"I know that I bring the energy and demeanor to this team,"
El-Amin said. "And without me, we weren't able to go offensively
like we are normally able to."
El-Amin scored only three points, while longtime rival Tony
Harris scored 18 points for the Volunteers.
"It had to be tough for them not to have their general,"
Tennessee center C.J. Black said. "It looked hard for them to fill
those shoes."
The Vols capitalized on his absence by turning Harris loose.
The two junior guards have a prickly relationship dating to their days of AAU basketball and without El-Amin to guard him, Harris had free rein through the lane. He made just four of his 11 shots, but was able to draw numerous fouls and finished 9-of-12 at the line.
Harris said he got no satisfaction in winning the most important
battle the two have ever waged.
"I feel sorry for him because he got hurt at a big time for
them," Harris said. "But he has a big heart and he will bounce
back."
Tennessee (26-6) got past the second round for the first time.
The Vols were bounced out of the tournament in either the first or
second round five straight times.
Tennessee will play North Carolina, a surprise winner over
top-seeded Stanford, on Friday in the regional semifinals. Losses
by Stanford, No. 2 Cincinnati and No. 3 Ohio State made Tennessee
the highest remaining seed in the wide-open South Regional.
|  | | Tennessee's Ron Slay and Connecticut's Doug Wrenn eye a loose ball. |
The Vols, whose Knoxville campus is located just 200 miles away
from Birmingham, celebrated at center court while the crowd chanted
"SEC! SEC!"
"We felt like the home team here in Birmingham," said Vincent
Yarbrough, who finished with 14 points. "We tip our hats to the
crowd, which played a huge part in this."
Connecticut (25-10) missed a chance at its eighth trip in 11
years to the regional semifinals.
Without a healthy El-Amin, the Huskies never even threatened the
Vols. Connecticut's leading scorer and floor leader sprained his
ankle in the first-round win over Utah State and still was bothered
by it against Tennessee.
He took just two shots and played only 13 minutes -- grimacing
through most of them while tenderly favoring the heavily wrapped
ankle -- and could only somberly look on from the bench as his
teammates struggled without him.
"We just couldn't get into an offensive flow," Connecticut
coach Jim Calhoun said. "We're so dependent on Khalid's energy on
offense that we couldn't get anything established. But we do depend
on Khalid offensively probably too much."
Connecticut got 17 points from Albert Mouring and 14 from Kevin
Freeman. Center Jake Voskuhl had only two points in the final game
of his college career and Connecticut's 51 points was its lowest
total of the season.
"Obviously this is not the same team without Khalid,"
Tennessee coach Jerry Green said. "But our team still played
pretty well, probably as good as we played all year."
Black, one of just two Tennessee seniors, added 13 points.
El-Amin, who averages 32.5 minutes, started but played just six
minutes in the first half. Without him, the Huskies fell behind
32-22 at halftime.
His only basket of the day, a long 3-pointer with 13:38 to play,
pulled Connecticut within four at 38-34. But Jon Higgins answered
with a 3 at the other end El-Amin then left the floor in the middle
of an 8-0 Tennessee run that pushed the lead back to 46-34.
"I tried to will us and the next time down on defense, I think
reality hit me," he said. "I wasn't able to get around a screen
and my man hit another 3."
El-Amin came back on the court soon after, but it was too late
for the Huskies -- who never got the lead under double digits again.
Despite their dominance, the Vols were outrebounded 37-26,
but made up for it by forcing 15 turnovers and grabbing seven
steals.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Connecticut NCAA Team Report
Tennessee NCAA Team Report
Chat: NCAA Tourney
Carolina freshman pushes Stanford from lofty perch
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jim Calhoun says Connecticut had to play without it's leader.
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