CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michigan coach John Beilein was so worried about rebounding a day before facing Tennessee he joked he was going to box out a reporter in the hallway.
His undersized but plucky and relentless team got the message and then some – enough to send Volunteers coach Bruce Pearl to an early offseason of uncertainty.
Zack Novak scored 14 points, including two 3-pointers in a decisive spurt to start the second half, and Michigan beat listless Tennessee 75-45 on Friday in the West region to end a season of distractions for the Volunteers.
In only their second NCAA tournament appearance since 1998, the eighth-seeded Wolverines (21-13) turned a four-point halftime lead into a rout when they got hot from the outside and found a way to stop Tennessee freshman Tobias Harris.
After scoring 19 points and not missing a combined 13 shots from the field and foul line in the first half, Harris went scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting as ninth-seeded Tennessee was outscored 42-16.
Stu Douglass, Matt Vogrich and Tim Hardaway Jr. all scored 11 points for Michigan, which shot 52 percent from the field and held a 36-26 rebounding edge in its 10th win in 14 games.
The loss was the eighth in 12 games for the Volunteers (19-15) as Pearl's future as coach is in question after he admitted lying to NCAA investigators.
Pearl has since served an eight-game suspension, forfeited $1.5 million in pay over the next four seasons and is working without a contract.
Athletic director Mike Hamilton, who had strongly supported his coach, wavered this week in a radio interview in which he said "the jury is still out" on whether Pearl will return.
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