urt. Confident? Chec

RALEIGH, N. Jonathan Newsome Jersey .C. -- Jordan McRae flew in to throw down a dunk on the break and increase Tennessees big first-half lead, then came down the floor to scream triumphantly toward the orange-clad fans near the court. Confident? Check. Enthusiastic? Yep. Maybe playing in the First Four to get the jitters out wasnt such a bad thing for these Volunteers after all. Jarnell Stokes scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help Tennessee beat Massachusetts 86-67 on Friday in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional, earning the programs most lopsided win in the tournament in seven years. Now 11th-seeded Tennessee faces 14th-seeded Mercer, which beat No. 3 seed Duke 78-71 on Friday, in the third round on Sunday. The game is a rematch of an NIT game won by Mercer at Tennessee last year. "We didnt come into this tournament saying, OK, if we beat UMass we can play Duke. Not at all," Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin said. "Our guys understand that its one game at a time. Anything happens this time of year." McRae added 21 points for the Volunteers (23-12), who had little trouble with the sixth-seeded Minutemen (24-9) in a surprisingly one-sided performance. Tennessee shot 54 per cent from the field, led by 20 points before halftime and used another strong defensive performance to shut down UMass. "We just wanted to keep our foot on the gas the whole time," McRae said. With that mentality, Martins club is building momentum at the right time of the season. "They understand and I guess they realize when you defend at the level were capable of defending at, these are the results behind it," Martin said. "Theyve really bought into it and embraced the fact that we can defend the way we defend because you can still score the ball, but scoring is a lot better when you can defend like this. "Theyre just playing with confidence as a team. Everybody understands their role and just wants to win as a family." The Volunteers had missed the past two tournaments and squeaked into this years field of 68, earning a trip to Dayton, Ohio to face Iowa in the First Four. But they controlled the boards and dominated the overtime to beat the Hawkeyes 78-65 in the programs first NCAA game since Bruce Pearls final game as coach in 2011. Martin had said he thought the win helped his Vols get the jitters out -- they didnt score until 6 minutes into that one -- while also giving them a taste of tournament intensity by fighting through a tough game. He was right. Tennessee protected the ball against UMass pressure by committing three first-half turnovers, while Stokes and McRae led an offence that shot 52 per cent in the first half and kept coming up with press-breaking answers to turn away every spurt. "The Iowa game, we were just getting our feet wet, first time being here," said Jeronne Maymon, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee. "Then it was time to get down to playing basketball." This was Tennessees biggest margin of victory in an NCAA game since beating Long Beach State 121-86 in the 2007 first round, which came near the start of a six-year run of tournament appearances under Pearl. Stokes 14 rebounds tied the school record for an NCAA tournament game, equaling the mark set by Isiah Victor in 1999 and Reggie Johnson in 1980. Throw in Maymons performance, and it marked the first time the Vols had multiple double-doubles in an NCAA game since 1977. Chaz Williams and Maxie Esho scored 12 points each for UMass in its first NCAA appearance since 1998. But the Minutemen fell behind by double figures early, trailed by 19 at halftime and never got closer than 10 again. "We had a couple of great practices the past couple of days, and I felt like we were going to come out great," Williams said. "But once get under these lights and the crowd starts roaring, you start second-guessing." UMass came in averaging 76 points and shooting 46 per cent, but finished well short of those numbers with much of its production coming after the Vols had seized control. Tennessee led 38-18 on McRaes first-half dunk and pushed the lead to 24 points late. "This dont even seem real right now," said sophomore Derrick Gordon, the only UMass player to have tournament experience from his previous stop at Western Kentucky. "Its just a loss that just like, Man, am I still sleeping? Reality sets in, like we really just lost and it wasnt a loss by like four points. It was a loss by double digits." It was a frustrating finish for the Minutemen under coach Derek Kellogg, who was a player during Massachusetts 1990s surge under John Calipari. He started on a team that reached a regional final in 1995 during a run of seven straight NCAA appearances for the program, but his team never gave itself much of a chance to stick around Raleigh for another game. UMass shot 42 per cent and went 3 for 11 from 3-point range. Trent Richardson Jersey . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. DaRick Rogers Indianapolis Colts . Leverkusen came from behind to beat Werder Bremen 2-1 and secure fourth place immediately above Wolfsburg, which beat sixth-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1. "We knew we had to win," Leverkusen striker Eren Derdiyok said.TURIN, Italy -- Ten-man Benfica returned to the Europa League final following a 0-0 draw at tournament-favourite Juventus on Thursday, advancing on 2-1 aggregate. Juventus created numerous chances but either couldnt find the target or was denied by Benfica goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who had a standout performance. Even when Benfica was reduced to 10 men in the 67th minute as Argentine midfielder Enzo Perez picked up his second yellow card for a foul on Arturo Vidal, Jorge Jesus squad maintained its composure. "Were a squad that tries to defend to perfection, and we more than deserved to advance," Benfica defender Guilherme Siqueira said. Its the third time Benfica has reached the final, having been runner-up in 1983 and last year, when the Portuguese side was beaten by Chelsea. In the May 14 final back in Turin, Benfica will face Sevilla, which scored in added time of a 3-1 loss at Valencia to advance on the away goal rule. With Diego Maradona watching from the tribune, Juventus controlled for long periods and came close to scoring the lone goal it needed. Andrea Pirlo shot high eight minutes in and a bicycle-kick attempt from Carlos Tevez also went high in the 24th. In the 43rd, a header from defender Leonardo Bonucci went just wide folllowing a free kick from Pirlo, and Tevez couldnt quite reach it at the far post. Authentic Matt Hasselbeck Jersey. In first-half added time, Paul Pogba inspired another chance for Juventus, leading to a header from Vidal that beat Oblak, but defender Luisao cleared the danger off the line. A downpour accompanied by hail greeted the squads at the start of the second half, and Benfica came close with a shot from Rodrigo that sailed over the bar in the 50th. Pirlo found the target with a splendid free kick in the 62nd but Oblak made a leaping save in the top right corner. Juventus substitute Pablo Osvaldo thought he scored in the 81st but was ruled offside. There was a brief skirmish between the benches in the final minutes, resulting in red cards for Juventus forward Mirko Vucinic, who did not play, and Benfica forward Lazar Markovic, who had just exited and will now miss the final. Benfica actually ended with nine men, as defender Ezequiel Garay was carried off on a stretcher following a collision, and all three substitutions were used. The referee let the match continue for eight minutes of added time but even that wasnt enough for Juventus, which can console itself by clinching its third successive Serie A title with a win over Atalanta on Monday. ' ' '