SAN ANTONIO - Tennessee basketball fans are accustomed to disappointment, but what happened Thursday night in the Alamodome goes way beyond disappointment.

The Vols were on the verge of making school history. They weren't just leading No. 1-ranked Ohio State. They were dominating.

They made seven of their first 10 3-pointers. They got Ohio State star center Greg Oden in foul trouble. They led by 20 points in the last minute of the first half of the NCAA tournament's South Regional semifinals.

Then they broke your hearts.

The 3s stopped falling. The defense disintegrated. And the team that looked so sure of itself in the first 19 minutes suddenly looked lost.

But after losing every bit of a 20-point lead, the Vols still had a chance to right all their second-half wrongs, still had a chance to go where no UT men's basketball team had gone before. One more basket could have overturned Ohio State's one-point lead in those final precious seconds and carried the Vols into the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight for the first time.

The final play matched strength against strength. Guard Ramar Smith - the best of the Vols on this night - dribbled into the teeth of the Ohio State defense and challenged Oden head-on. The result was disastrous for UT.

Oden swatted the ball away, and Ohio State claimed an 85-84 victory.

Given UT's dreadful March history, a last-second, one-point loss to a No. 1 seed is anything but shameful. A good March for UT men's basketball is usually winning one game in the SEC tournament and one more in the NIT.

This team won first- and second-round games. This team was as close as any UT any team to the Elite Eight.

UT's 1999-2000 team came tantalizingly close as well, only to lose a lead and a game in the final minutes to North Carolina in another South Regional semifinal. But you didn't believe in coach Jerry Green's teams the way you do in coach Bruce Pearl's teams.

And you probably believed more than ever after that first half. Leading scorer Chris Lofton wasn't the only one making 3s. So was Ryan Childress. Dane Bradshaw barely beat the shot clock with another 3.

"When Ryan Childress started making shots, it felt like this was supposed to happen," Pearl said. "I felt very good about it."

The game changed quickly and drastically in the second half. Ohio State surged; UT wilted.

It's not surprising that the Buckeyes managed a comeback. They did the same in overcoming a determined Xavier team in the second round. As Pearl pointed out, "They grind it out. They obviously play with grit and resolve."

UT couldn't come close to matching the Buckeyes' resolve in the second half. Its defense was at its worst when it mattered most. The Buckeyes drove through it or shot over it at will.

It wasn't as though Ohio State overwhelmed UT with superior talent. In fact, it was more determined, more intense.

"We didn't have that sense of urgency defensively," Bradshaw said. "We didn't come through."

Pearl was indirectly critical of the officiating, pointing out that Lofton didn't shoot a single free throw while Ohio State point guard Mike Conley Jr. repeatedly drew fouls in the second half.

"For him (Lofton) not to go to the foul line one time, it's difficult for me to understand," Pearl said. "We've played Ohio State two times and he shoots one free throw."

Overall, Ohio State made 23 of 35 free-throw attempts while UT was eight for 17. But much of the Buckeyes' advantage at the foul line came in the second half, and it had more to do with UT's inept defense than the officiating.

"We're terribly disappointed," Pearl said. "We've proved we could beat the best teams in the country. We've also proved we could come close to beating the best teams in the country."

This time, despite building a 20-point lead, it could only come close.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.