University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Knock Out UConn, 65-51
March 19, 2000 | Men's Basketball
 Connnecticut's Doug Wrenn, left, battles with Tennessee's Ron Slay for a loose ball |
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)(Mar. 19) -- Minus Khalid El-Amin, defending champion Connecticut never stood a chance against Tennessee.
Hobbled by a sprained right ankle, El-Amin was largely ineffective for the fifth-seeded Huskies, who looked lost as they were beaten 65-51 by fourth-seeded Tennessee 65-51 in the second round of the NCAA South Regional on March 19.
El-Amin scored only three points, while longtime rival Tony Harris scored 18 points for the Volunteers.
Tennessee (26-6) had never before won two NCAA tournament games and had been bounced out of the tournament in either the first or second round five straight times. But the Vols will play North Carolina, a surprise winner over top-seeded Stanford, on Friday in the regional semifinals.
Connecticut (25-10) missed a chance at its eighth trip in 11 years to the regional semifinals.
Without a healthy El-Amin, the Huskies never even threatened the Vols. Connecticut's leading scorer and floor leader sprained his ankle in the first-round win over Utah State and still was bothered by it against Tennessee.
He took just two shots and played only 13 minutes -- grimacing through most of them while tenderly favoring the heavily wrapped ankle -- and could only somberly look on from the bench as his teammates struggled without him.
Connecticut's 51 points was its lowest total of the season.
Vincent Yarbrough scored 14 points and C.J. Black added 13 for Tennessee.
Connecticut got 17 points from Albert Mouring and 14 from Kevin Freeman. Center Jake Voskuhl had only two points in the final game of his college career.
El-Amin, who averages 32.5 minutes a game, started but played just six minutes in the first half. Without him, the Huskies fell behind 32-22 at halftime.
His only bucket of the day, a long 3-pointer with 13:38 to play, pulled Connecticut within four at 38-34. But he left the floor a minute later in the middle of an 8-0 run by the Vols that pushed their lead back to 46-34.
El-Amin came back on the court after that, too late for the Huskies -- who never got the lead under double digits again.
Harris, meanwhile, thrived without his longtime nemesis on the floor. The two guards have a prickly relationship dating back to their days of AAU basketball and without El-Amin to guard him, Harris had free rein through the lane.
Even though he only made four of his 11 shots, Harris was able to draw numerous fouls and finished 9-of-12 at the line. Yarbrough also had more room to operate, hitting on three of his six 3-point attempts.
Despite their dominance, the Vols were still outrebounded 37-26, but made up for it by forcing 15 turnovers and grabbing seven steals.
