Chris Lofton only scored five points as Tennessee got by American. (AP Images)

With just five minutes left and their lead cut to 53-51, the Tennessee Volunteers knew they had to turn it up in order to get rid of the pesky American Eagles.

They did just that. Led by JaJuan Smith's 19 points, the No. 2 Vols finished strong to put away their upstart No. 15 opponent 72-57 in East Regional action.

It was an odd game that started quite early – 11:15 a.m. to be exact – but the early rise didn't affect Patriot League MVP Garrison Carr. The junior guard scored a game-high 26 points to keep American in it for most of the contest.

But in the end it was too much talent from Tennessee, who spent a whopping one week atop the AP polls this season. Wayne Chism and Chris Lofton are the types of players that would only set foot on the American U campus on a vacation – simply put, the Vols were by far the better team but credit is due to the Eagles for putting up a fight for the full 40 minutes.

This was the second straight day where at No. 2 seed was freaked out by a No. 15. Yesterday, Duke barely escaped unheralded Belmont, narrowly edging the Braves 71-70.

Stay tuned for all your March Madness first round results and recaps!

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