Wrapped Up In a Series Of Twists

"I've got faith in our other guys," said Bradshaw, the inbounder. "But I'm going to wait every time if I can for the chance to get the ball to Chris."

Even with Virginia trying to double-team, Lofton kept zigging and zagging to get open.

"The key is the catch," Pearl said. "He did a great job making the catch and then being aggressive. He never got trapped, so they had to foul."

Three times Virginia tried to deny Lofton the ball; three times he got open. Each time he coolly swished both free throws. After the first two, Singletary got behind a high screen and drilled a three-pointer. The second time, under orders from Pearl, with the lead 75-72, JaJuan Smith fouled Singletary as he crossed midcourt with 6.3 seconds left.

Many coaches -- most -- are reluctant to foul in that situation. Xavier's Sean Miller paid the price for that reluctance Saturday when Ohio State's Ron Lewis made a three-pointer to send the game into overtime with two seconds to play. Pearl wanted to try to avoid that. So he fouled.

"I've got [Lofton] on my team," Pearl said. "I've got faith in him to get the ball and to make free throws. If you foul in that situation they have to do four things to tie the game: make a free throw, miss a free throw, rebound the miss and make another offensive play. If you don't foul, they just have to make one play."

With some help from his coach, Singletary almost made that play. After Lofton's last two free throws made it 77-74 with 5.9 seconds left, he dashed upcourt with the ball. Josh Tabb, guarding him, had orders to foul him as soon as he crossed midcourt. Knowing that, Virginia Coach Dave Leitao sent Jason Cain to midcourt to screen Tabb before he could get to Singletary. Tabb smacked into Cain, and Singletary flashed past him.

"At that point Jordan Howell was supposed to come up and help and foul right away," Pearl said. "We had a backup plan if there was a screen. But Jordan didn't get there in time."

He didn't get there in large part because Singletary is water-bug quick and he was smart enough to veer right to stay away from him. As the Tennessee players and bench watched in horror, Singletary pulled up about four feet beyond the three-point line for a squared-up shot.

"I thought it was in," he said later. "I had good rotation and good lift on it."

Standing under the basket, watching the ball arc toward the rim, Bradshaw thought it was in, too.

"I was thinking, 'Why hasn't he been fouled?' " he said. "From where I was, it looked good. The kid kept his team in the game. He had nothing to be ashamed of at all."