By snoadmin
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Whenever the team you are playing against ties its career record for points in a game, it’s usually not a good sign.
Long Beach State’s season came to an end Friday afternoon as the 49ers watched Tennessee drain shot after shot at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The onslaught was capped off when sophomore Tanner Wild banked a 3-pointer with four seconds left to put an exclamation point on the Volunteers’ 121-86 win over the 49ers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I think we played an opponent that was better than we were and they showed it tonight,” said LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds. “Obviously, we played kind of the same style and they had a few more weapons going tonight than we did.”
The fifth-seeded Volunteers made their first three shots of the game, all of which were 3-pointers, and by the 13:02 mark of the first half, Tennessee led 26-10.
LBSU, the No. 12 seed in the south region, chipped away at the Tennessee advantage when Kejuan Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 4:38 left in the first half, cutting the Volunteers’ lead to only six, at 41-35.
That was as close as the 49ers would get.
From that point, Tennessee ran away with it. The Vols finished the first half on a 16-10 run, pushing the lead to 12. They followed up by scoring14 of the first 16 points in the second half, to take a 24-point lead.
“The start of the second half was the key of the game,” said Tennessee forward Dane Bradshaw. “We were able to stop them and get easy baskets in transition.”
Tennessee continued to make shots to close the game and finished shooting 59 percent from the field and 52 percent from behind the perimeter (14-27).
LBSU’s defense couldn’t stop the Vols’ hot streak. Kevin Houston said it was the jumpers that gave the 49ers the most trouble.
“Hitting jump shots. At one point, they were 75 percent from the field. They did a great job of spreading the floor and hitting jump shots.”
And spread the floor they did, with three Volunteers having 20-plus point games. Sharpshooter Chris Lofton scored 25, JaJuan Smith had 24, and Romar Smith contributed 22. The Volunteers scored 56 points in the paint, and 15 fast break points.
“We definitely got our fast break back,” Lofton said. “[Coach Bruce Pearl] has been preaching to us to put the fast back in the fast break and we did that today.”
While the Volunteers tied a 41-year-old school record for most points scored in a single game, LBSU was two points away from tying its school record for most points allowed, which was against Cal State Los Angeles in 1964.
Offensively, Johnson led LBSU in points with 24, and Ohio-native Aaron Nixon scored 23 points.
For Johnson and Nixon, along with seven other LBSU seniors, the game marked the end to their collegiate careers.
“This being your last game, it hurts,” Johnson said. “You know you can’t come back, but all we can do is wish our freshmen and sophomores the best of luck. And good luck to Tennessee.”
The game could also be the last for Reynolds on the LBSU sidelines. His contract will run out at the end of the year. LBSU Athletic Director Vic Cegles declined to comment on the situation, saying it would be discussed after the weekend.
The 49ers ended the season with 24 wins, which is in a tie for the third most in school history. Friday’s game was the first NCAA Tournament game for LBSU since 1995.
