(Chicago, IL) — Tennessee brought Iowa St.’s NCAA Tournament to a screeching halt winning 76-62 in a Sweet 16 match up on Friday night.
Poor shooting from the outside by the Cyclones combined with a dominating performance on the glass by the Volunteers did in ISU. Iowa St. was only 5 of 23 from beyond the arc — Milan Momcilovic was 2 of 8, Nate Heise was 1 of 7. Meanwhile, Tennessee outrebounded the Cyclones by an almost 2 to 1 margin — 43-22. The Vols had 16 offensive rebounds to just 8 for Iowa St.
It was close at the half with Tennessee leading 34-33 and Nate Arment started the 2nd half with a triple. After Heise missed a lay up in traffic, Ja’Kobi Gillespie made a drive to the hoop for a lay up of his own and the Vols were off and running. Tennessee looked bigger and more athletic than the Cyclones and clogged up the Cyclones three point shooters who could not get free. The Volunteers used a 10-2 run to build a 57-43 lead. The game hung around the 9-11 point deficit range and ISU could not mount a charge.
Arment led Tennessee (25-11) with 18 points, Gillespie had 16, Felix Okpara had a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Jaylen Carey also had a double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Vols shot 51 percent from the field (30-59) and advance to the Elite Eight to face top seeded Michigan — the Volunteers have never been to the Final Four.
Iowa St. (29-8) was led by Tamin Lipsey who ended his Cyclone career with 18 points, Heise also had 18 points, Killyan Toure added 9.
The Cyclones are now 1-7 in Sweet 16 games.
