PHILADELPHIA — Chris Lofton chuckles while trying to recall the details of a March Madness thriller nearly two decades prior.
“I just remember hard fought game,” Lofton told RTI. “It came down to the last— I feel like I made some free throws.”
Lofton’s recollection is correct. He made six free throws in six attempts in the final 30 seconds. In that way, it wasn’t all that unique compared to many games in Lofton’s storied four-year Tennessee career. But these free throws sealed a 77-74 win for five-seed Tennessee against four-seed Virginia in the Round of 32 of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
A football school in Knoxville punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 for just the fourth time in the then 69-year existence of the NCAA Tournament. Fast forward 19 years and six-seed Tennessee is readying to face three-seed Virginia on Sunday night, looking to punch the program’s 12th ever trip to the Sweet 16. But Vol hoops’ run of modern success largely began in Dayton 19 years ago.
“Man, it was special,” Lofton said. “What I loved about my teammates and myself, we stayed, we stuck it out and just found out a way to get better. We worked all summer, worked every day in practice, and for the most part did things that none of us ever thought we would.”
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Some details are fuzzy two decades later, but former Tennessee assistant coach Jayson Shay remembers the top of the scouting report.
“I just remember they had really good guards, Sean Singletary and … J.R. Reynolds,” Shay told RTI.
Singletary was a First Team All-ACC selection and Reynolds landed on the second team. They combined to average 37 points per game on a Virginia team that won a share of the ACC Regular-Season Championship.
Reynolds was unstoppable in the first half, scoring 20 points in the game’s first 15 minutes as Virginia built a 36-25 lead. But Tennessee was not fazed, Ramar Smith and Wayne Chism hit free throws while Lofton buried a triple late in the first half to cut the deficit to four points at halftime.
When Ryan Childress connected from deep, Tennessee tied the game at 42-42 before the first media timeout of the second half.
“Well we had an exceptional leading scorer in Chris Lofton,” Shay said. “He just never showed hardly any emotions ever. … We had youthful exuberance, but we had some experience and older guys and so those guys just didn’t get rattled when we were down early.”
Childress was a sophomore forward who averaged just 5.6 points per game that season. But the Cincinnati native connected on two triples as Tennessee built a 10-point lead with 13 minutes to play— part of an extended 27-8 run in the middle of the game.
“Ryan could shoot it though,” Lofton said. “So not surprised.”
Virginia didn’t go away. The Cavaliers cut Tennessee’s lead to two points with 2:50 to play. From there, the Vols held on for dear life. JaJuan Smith hit a huge three-pointer before Childress and Lofton combined to make eight-of-eight free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds.
When Sean Singleton’s three-pointer rolled off the rim and Dane Bradshaw knocked the ball out of bounds it was over. The Vols secured a three-point win and their first trip to the Sweet 16 in six years.
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Wichita State upset Tennessee in the Round of 32 in Bruce Pearl’s first season in Knoxville. That made it a little bit sweeter for his second team to get over the hump and reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
A year later, Tennessee climbed to the top-spot in the AP Poll for the first time in program history and returned to the Sweet 16. In 2010, six-seed Tennessee reached the Elite Eight for the first time in program hero as the Vols became a national player for the first time in the modern era.
“I just think it propelled us because we went to the Sweet Sixteen,” Shay said of the 2007 win. “I think it just helped propel us because we go to back-to-back Sweet Sixteens. Obviously in that fourth year we got beat by Oklahoma State in round one. But then that leads to the year where we go to the Elite Eight. So I think that just was, it just helped propel us.”
Pearl’s tenure came to an abrupt end when a NCAA investigation ended with a three-year show-cause and Tennessee firing the head coach. Cuonzo Martin made the Sweet 16 in his lone trip to the NCAA Tournament at Tennessee.
Then after one season with Donnie Tyndall, Tennessee hired Rick Barnes and the veteran head coach has ushered in the best run in Vol hoops history. The Vols have made eight straight trips to the NCAA Tournament including two trips to the Elite Eight and two more trips to the Sweet 16.
Tennessee lacks the Final Four appearances of an elite program, but has the consistent March success to be a high-level program nationally. After making three Sweet 16 appearances in the first 68 years of the tournament, Tennessee has made the Sweet 16 eight times in the last 19 tournaments. Another win over Virginia would make it nine trips to the second weekend in the last 20 years.
It all started with a Round of 32 win over the Cavaliers nearly two decades ago, giving a peek of what Tennessee basketball could be.
“Just kind of laid the foundation a little bit,” Lofton said. “Before I got there I think it was some rough years going on. And just got there and we just we worked hard. We were all guys that were not rated very high in high school, so we all had a chip on our shoulders, so we knew that working hard was going to get us to, put us in a position where we could do things that Tennessee basketball hasn’t been before.”
