SOUTH

(5) Tennessee 77, (4) Virginia 74

JaJuan Smith led a second-half comeback, Chris Lofton made one free throw after another in the final seconds, and the Volunteers held off Virginia 77–74 yesterday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Fifth-seeded Tennessee (24–10) reached the round of 16 for the first time since 2000 under second-year coach Bruce Pearl, who painted himself orange before a Lady Vols’ game last month to show some spirit.

“When you reach the Sweet 16 at the University of Tennessee with the way we’ve had to rebuild, you’ve made a special place in history for yourself,” point guard Dane Bradshaw said.

A certain shade of history, no less.

Pearl took off his shirt and painted his torso orange to support the Lady Vols at one of their January games. The sight of his brightly colored belly was shown repeatedly on basketball highlight shows, bringing him some grief.

MIDWEST

(1) Florida 74, (9) Purdue 67

Al Horford had 17 points and nine rebounds and helped the defending national champions withstand a game effort by plucky Purdue in a 74–67 victory yesterday in the second round.

“I guess they felt like they were going to make Al score one on one,” teammate Corey Brewer said. “They made a bad decision.”

Ninth-seeded Purdue played just about how it wanted against the Gators — slowing down the tempo, rebounding well with a smaller lineup and keeping the game close much of the way.

But the top-seeded Gators never panicked and made several clutch shots down the stretch to advance to the round of 16.

(7) UNLV 74, (2) Wisconsin 68

Lon Kruger was beaming. Happy as a coach, proud as a dad.

Thanks to a shooting surge by his son Kevin, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels rallied for the school’s biggest win since the 1991 team made the Final Four.

Kevin Kruger shook off a shooting slump, connecting on three straight 3-pointers late in the second half yesterday as UNLV beat second-seeded Wisconsin 74–68 in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

Kruger was shooting just 1–of–15 in the NCAAs — including 1–of–7 Sunday — when he found the range.

(3) Oregon 75, (11) Winthrop 61

Diminutive but destructive Tajuan Porter, the shortest man on the floor at 5-foot-6, broke open a close game by making his first four shots of the second half yesterday, all from long range. That spurt, Aaron Brooks’s 22 points, and a smothering defense led Oregon over the frazzled Eagles 75–61 and eliminated the last remaining double-digit seed from the tournament.

WEST

(4) Southern Ill. 63, (5) Virginia Tech 48

Compared to practice, sometimes Southern Illinois’ games are almost like a day off for the Salukis.

Driven by the tenacious defense instilled during those workouts — and three big 3-pointers by Jamaal Tatum — Southern Illinois pulled away from Virginia Tech 63–48 yesterday in the second round of the West Regional.

Tatum, the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, scored 21 points. The Salukis have won 15 of 16, and set a school record for victories in a season.

(1) Kansas 88, (8) Kentucky 76

Let Kentucky have the past. Kansas owns the present. And with a few more performances like this, the loaded Jayhawks might be making some more history of their own.

Chicago native Julian Wright scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, Brandon Rush added 19 and top-seeded Kansas romped past Kentucky 88–76 in a matchup of two of the game’s most storied programs yesterday.

EAST

(5) USC 87, (4) Texas 68

If Kevin Durant decides to leave college after one year, it will be without a championship.

Southern California made sure of that yesterday, getting 22 points from its more seasoned star, junior Nick Young, in an 87–68 runaway over Texas and Durant, the freshman front-runner for national player of the year.

SOUTH

(2) Memphis 78, (7) Nevada 62

John Calipari’s Memphis Tigers finally have a victory worth bragging about in their run of 24 straight.

They also have a spot in the South Regional semifinals.

Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 16 points before leaving with a sprained ankle and his high-flying, versatile teammates took over from there for a 78-62 victory over Nick Fazekas and Nevada on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Associated Press