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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
HONOLULU (AP) -- It didn't take Jerry Green long to get his team
ready to face a nationally-ranked opponent.
| | Tennessee's Charles Hathaway tries to power his way through Sean Sonderleiter's defense. |
Less than 24 hours after his Tennessee team got into a postgame
scrap with George Washington, the Volunteers put away Iowa
80-62 Friday night in the semifinal of the Rainbow Classic.
"It's a good win for us and it's good we were able to answer
when we were back on our heels a little bit and the momentum left
us," Green said.
"That's old news (the near-brawl). The big news, the important
news, is that we're in the finals of the tournament."
The Volunteers (12-1) Hawaii, a 75-67 winner over Saint Louis, on Saturday for the tournament title.
Tony Harris scored 20 points and keyed two big runs to power
Tennessee (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP).
The Volunteers went on a 24-5 rally to close out the first half
and take a 33-22 lead. Harris had four points and three assists
during the spurt.
Harris then hit a pair of 3-pointers during a 11-0 run to start
the second half that gave Tennessee a 44-22 lead.
"Harris was the one that got away from us," Iowa coach Steve
Alford said. "He really hurt us and broke us down at critical
moments."
Lapses on defense and a weak shooting performance also
contributed to Iowa's downfall, Alford said.
"I think we need to take charges. We didn't do that. That was
the most disappointing thing defensively," he said. "They're a
Top Five team and you're not going to beat them very often shooting
39 percent (24-of-61)."
Alford pointed to a 12-minute first half stretch that hurt
the Hawkeyes (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP).
"That was as bad offensively as we can be," he said.
But the Hawkeyes (10-2) rallied behind four 3-pointers by Brody
Boyd and cut the lead to 58-53 on a basket by Jared Reiner.
"They did a great job of cutting it down (Tennessee's lead),
but I thought we answered," Green said. "And that's the big key
with this club."
Harris responded with a basket Jon Higgins added a 3-pointer to
put the Volunteers back up by 10.
Tennessee had only two baskets over the final four minutes, but
converted 12 of 15 free throws as the Hawkeyes fouled in trying to
catch up.
Although Reggie Evans led the Hawkeyes with 19 points and 10
rebounds, Green said Charles Hathaway made his presence felt.
"I thought it was big," Green said of Hathaway's performance.
"We kept trying to work him in the defensive end. He gives us that
good presence.
"It's really hard to guard Evans continually and not draw the
foul."
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Iowa Clubhouse
Tennessee Clubhouse
Tennessee, GW take battle from court to pizza party
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