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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A massive crack rang from the Tennessee basketball locker room Thursday and down the Spectrum Center hallway.
An NCAA staff member walked out moments later with a foam board that had the Charlotte bracket pod depicted on it. The “Tennessee” placard was crooked and there was a split running along the board.
What happened?
“Honest mistake,” said Colin Coyne, the Tennessee senior walk-on.
No. 2 seed Tennessee felt great after its 83-49 win against No. 15 Saint Peter’s — so great that Coyne walloped straight through the bracket board that teams always put their name placard on after advancing.
“Every time I looked at that board, I thought it was a bulletin board kind of material,” Coyne said. “I found out the hard way.”
How the bracket in Tennessee’s locker room was broken
Dalton Knecht first denied he was involved in the breaking of the board. He said it was Josiah-Jordan James. James clarified it was Coyne, who was in the opposite corner of the cramped locker room.
“He actually smashed it,” guard Santiago Vescovi said. “He broke that thing. He took it literal. He did what he was supposed to.”
So did the Vols (25-8) by dominating overmatched Saint Peter’s (19-14) from start to finish. They will face No. 7-seeded Texas (21-12) on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, CBS) for a trip to the Sweet 16 in Detroit.
Tennessee did it by being the aggressor from the start. It went inside to Jonas Aidoo regularly to assert his presence early. Knecht was a knockdown shooter as always, and Zeigler was the engine of it all. Vescovi hit a pair of 3-pointers. Tobe Awaka played well on the inside.
The Vols were elite defensively. The only critique James could think of was a need to cut down on turnovers. UT had 15.
It was dominating enough regardless in the opener that Coyne sprinted from the end of the bench when he had a chance to get in the game. He heard his name called then. He heard it again in the locker room to put the “Tennessee” plate on to the next round.
“I was just told to slap it,” Coyne said. “I just tried to make it and put it with some force. I put a little too much on it.”
Tennessee had a get-right game before facing Texas for Sweet 16 spot
The Vols spent the first 48 hours after their loss to Mississippi State in the SEC tournament with a lot of film.
“We know Nashville didn’t go as good as we wanted it to so we had to go out and stay focused, be more aggressive and be physical,” Knecht said.
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James said practices the past week were about accountability. He stressed the same message Vols coach Rick Barnes preached after the MSU loss: The next 40 minutes could be the last. The Vols didn’t want that. They challenged each other to bring the fight after two games of lacking assertiveness.
It paid off in the first game.
Vescovi could tell before Tennessee left the locker room that it was ready. There was an energy and an excitement to play.
“That is the kind of effort we are going to need every night if we want to keep playing,” Vescovi said.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
