Postgame Notes: Iowa 65, UT 78 - University of Tennessee Athletics

March 19, 2014

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VOLS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

The Vols made their 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Big Orange owns a 17-20 (.459) NCAA Tournament record.

The Vols are 11-7 in first-round games, 5-6 in second-round games, 1-5 in regional semifinals, 0-1 in regional finals and 0-1 in the now-defunct regional consolation round.

This is the program's seventh NCAA berth in the last nine years and its first under third-year head coach Cuonzo Martin.

Tennessee's 20 NCAA Tournament berths tie LSU for fourth-most among SEC teams.

In the last 10 years (2004-2013), among SEC programs, only Florida (22) and Kentucky (19) have won more NCAA Tournament games than Tennessee (8).

This was the Vols' first NCAA Tournament win since 2010, when Tennessee beat Ohio State in the Sweet 16 on March 26, 2010. That was 1,454 days ago.

This was Cuonzo Martin's first NCAA Tournament win as a head coach.

Cuonzo Martin is the fourth Tennessee coach to win an NCAA Tournament game (joining Don DeVoe, Jerry Green and Bruce Pearl).

The Vols picked up first NCAA Tournament victory in Dayton in three tries (lost in 2001 and 2009).

The Vols have never previously competed as an 11 seed in their 19 previous NCAA appearances.

VOLS Vs. IOWA, McCAFFERY

Tennessee is now 2-2 all-time against Iowa, winning the last two games. The Vols beat Iowa in the semifinals of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, Dec. 29, 2000, 80-68.

Tennessee is now 2-0 all-time against Fran McCaffery-coached teams. Tennessee won its only previous game against a McCaffery-coached team, and that contest also was played at a neutral site. The 12th-ranked Vols defeated Siena 78-64 at the Old Spice Classic Nov. 27, 2008, in Orlando, Fla.

COMING BACK

The Vols rallied from their second-biggest deficit to win this season. The Vols trailed by 12 (16-4) against Iowa.

The largest deficit came in the Vols' win over USC Upstate in their second game of the season, a 13-point deficit. Tennessee won 74-65. That was also the Vols only other comeback for victory when trailing at the half. Tennessee was 1-7 when trailing at the half this season.

LOOKING AHEAD

Tennessee will play UMass on Friday at 2:45 p.m., in the NCAA Second Round.

The Vols are 3-0 all-time against the Minutemen, including a win last season in Puerto Rico, 83-69.

In that game, the Vols were led by Jarnell Stokes, who had a career-high 24 points along with 12 rebounds.

Jordan McRae added 12 points off the bench while Josh Richardson had 11 points. Tennessee out rebounded UMass, 51-37.

The teams played a home-and-home series in 2003 and 2004 with Tennessee winning 71-45 in Knoxville and 74-66 in Amherst Mass.

FOR STARTERS

Martin started guard Jordan McRae, guard Josh Richardson, guard Antonio Barton, forward Jeronne Maymon, forward Jarnell Stokes for the seventh game in a row. The Vols are now 6-1 in those seven games, with the lone loss to #1 Florida.

Tennessee is now 16-7 with that starting line-up.

Antonio Barton started for the seventh game in a row after coming off the bench for eight games in a row. He made his 25th start of the season, in his only season as a Vol.

Stokes made his 76th consecutive start, dating to February of 2012. He has started 81 of his 84 career games.

McRae has started all 34 games this season along with Stokes. In his career, McRae has 71 starts.

TOUGHER BREED

Over the last six games, the Vols' defense has held foes to an average of 50.3 points per game.

The Tennessee defense held Iowa to 65 points, the 53rd time in the last 65 games that the Vols have held their opponent to under-70 points dating to last season.

Only three opponents this season have scored at least 70 points with a season-high of 78 by UTEP.

Iowa was held to a season-low in first-half points with just 29. The Hawkeyes didn't score for the final 3:42 of the half.

Tennessee held Iowa's leading scorer Roy Devyn Marble (17.3 ppg) to just 7 points, -10 below his season average.  The Vols have been tremendous against some of the nation's scorers. Auburn's Chris Denson (19.9 ppg) was held to three points on March 5. Missouri's Jabari Brown (21.4 ppg) was limited to eight points on March 8.

WIRE-TO-WIRE WINS

The Vols picked up their 14th wire-to-wire win this season in their 22nd win (63.6 percent of wins), in which the Vols never trailed in the game.

The Vols have won six of their last seven games wire-to-wire fashion with five in row from March 1-14. Tennessee did not trailed for 200 consecutive minutes.

STOKES DOING WORK

Junior Jarnell Stokes (18 points) has scored in double-figures 16 games in a row.

Stokes has scored in double-figures in 29 of 34 games this season.

Stokes has scored 20 or more points in 10 games.

Stokes now has 1,075 to move to 42nd in career scoring at Tennessee. He passed Rob Jones (1,070) and Bobby Croft (1,071). Next on the list at #42 is Cameron Tatum (1,083).

Stokes picked up his 38th career double-double in his 84 career games at Tennessee (45.2 percent of his games). That leads all active players in he SEC.

Stokes had his 20th double-double of the season, the most by a Vol in a season since Bernard King had 22 in 1976-77.

Stokes' 38 double-doubles are fourth on the all-time list at Tennessee. Gene Tormohlen is third with 50 in his career.

Stokes continued to add to his Tennessee career leading total of offensive rebounds with four in the game. Stokes now has 319+TODAY in his career. Second on the list is Wayne Chism (302).

Stokes fourth in the nation averaging 4.5 offensive rebounds per game.

McRAE FILLS IT UP

Senior guard Jordan McRae finished with 20 points.

It's McRae's 29th double-digit performance of the season and his 14th in 15 games.

McRae has scored in double-figures in 67 of his 111 career games.

McRae is now 16th on the Tennessee career scoring list at 1,462 career points. Next on the list is Ron Slay with 1,569 points.

McRae made 2 3-pointers and now has 177 in his career. Next on the list at No. 7 is Vincent Yarbrough (179) and No. 6 Jon Higgins (209).

WIN-DICATORS

Tennessee is 9-0 when it shoots 50 percent or better from the floor this season.

Tennesse is 17-1 this season when it shoots a better percentage from the floor this season.

Tennessee is 8-0 when Antonio Barton makes at least three 3-pointers in a game this season.

Tennessee is 11-0 when Jarnell Stokes blocks at least three shots in a game in his career.

Tennessee is 8-0 when Jordan McRae blocks at least three shots in a game in his career.

Tennessee is 24-0 under Cuonzo Martin when the Vols shoot at least 50 percent from the floor in a game.

Tennessee is 29-3 under Cuonzo Martin when the Vols score at least 80 points in a game.  Tennessee is 35-4 under Cuonzo Martin when they lead by seven at the half.

MARTIN IN MARCH

Wednesday's game began the second hundred games of Cuonzo Martin's career as a head coach with the #Vols. He is now 61-40 (.604) all-time on Rocky Top.

Cuonzo Martin's Vols now have a 11-6 record in March games.

This is UT's 24th all-time 20-win season and the second 20-win campaign under third-year coach Cuonzo Martin.

LIMITED NCAA EXPERIENCE FOR PLAYERS

Only three players on Tennessee's 15-man roster had ever been on an NCAA Tournament team, and just one of them has played meaningful minutes in the Big Dance.

Seniors Jeronne Maymon and Jordan McRae played one and two minutes, respectively, at the end of UT's 2011 NCAA Tournament loss vs. Michigan. Neither scored.

Senior transfer Antonio Barton went to three NCAA Tournaments during his three seasons at Memphis (2011, 2012, 2013), and he appeared in three of the four tournament games the Tigers played. In those three contests, Barton averaged 5.7 points in 14.3 minutes. He shot 6-for-11 and made three 3-pointers during a 17-point NCAA performance vs. Arizona as a freshman in 2011.

SIGNIFICANT NCAA EXPERIENCE FOR COACHES

The Vols coaching staff has 34 games of experience in the NCAA Tournament.

This was Cuonzo Martin's first game as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament, in his sixth year at the helm of two programs (Missouri State and Tennessee for three years each).

As a player at Purdue, Martin made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, in his final three seasons as a player from 1993-95. The Boilermakers advanced to the Elite Eight in 1994.

As an assistant associate head coach under Gene Keady and matt Painter, Martin and Purdue made three NCAA Tournaments, reaching the second round in 2003, 2007 and 2008.

Martin has been in 12 previous NCAA Tournament games, all at Purdue.

Associate head coach Tracy Webster reached the 1994 NCAA Second Round while playing at Wisconsin. He also coached in 1- games including the 2005 National Runner-Up with Illinois.

Assistant Coach Jon Harris played in one NCAA Tourney game with Marquette in 2002 and was on the staff for Dwayne Wade's powered Final Four run for Marquette in 2003.

Kent Williams led Southern Illinois to back-to-back Sweet 16s with Southern Illinois in 2002 and 2003.

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