Vols hold off DePaul with late FTs
November 23, 2009
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (AP)—Tyler Smith made two free throws with 13.7seconds left, and No. 10 Tennessee held off DePaul 57-53 in the second round ofthe Paradise Jam on Sunday.
Smith finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for the Vols (4-0), who willplay No. 7 Purdue or Saint Joseph’s for the tournament title on Monday night.
DePaul (2-1) closed to 55-53 on Mac Koshwal’s layup with 44.5 seconds left,but the Vols ran off nearly 30 seconds before Jeremiah Kelly finally fouledSmith. He made both ends of the 1-and-1, and Will Walker missed a 3-pointattempt in the closing seconds.
Wayne Chism added 13 points and eight rebounds for Tennessee, whichout-rebounded DePaul 37-25 but turned the ball over 15 times to keep the gameclose.
Koshwal and Walker each had 14 points for DePaul. Eric Wallace added 10.