After letting a 12-point lead with less than six minutes to go nearly evaporate, Tennessee Basketball held on for its biggest win of the year in the SEC Tournament semifinals. The Vols, the No. 4 seed in the tourney, upset the top-seeded and regular season SEC Champion Auburn Tigers at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville SCORE Saturday afternoon.
With the Vols, ranked No. 8 in the AP No. 6 in the Coaches Poll, leading 68-65 and 29 seconds to go, Johni Broome missed two free throws. However, Auburn, ranked No. 3 in both polls, got the ball back as the second miss went out of bounds off UT. They failed to score, though, and Jahmai Mashack hit two free throws to secure a 70-65 win.
While the win was thrilling and will send Rick Barnes’ team to the SEC Tournament championship, it may have come at a cost. What exactly did the Vols gain? Sure, they got revenge on them after losing on the road in the regular season 53-51, but in terms of their NCAA Tournament hopes, what did this do?
Remember, Tennessee Basketball entered the tournament as a projected No. 2 seed. The Vols all but clinched that with their 83-72 win over the Texas Longhorns in the Quarterfinal. Beating Auburn will not be enough to propel them to a 1-seed, even over the Tigers themselves.
In recent years, the Selection Committee has made it clear they devalue conference tournaments when it comes to seeding. It almost has no impact. As a result, by all metrics, all the Vols seemed to do was use a lot of energy they could have saved for March Madness…and they certainly used that energy.
This was an intense game with elite defense on both sides and a ton of fouling. Blowing a double-digit lead late required the Vols burn a lot of energy trying to come out on top, and that’s for a team that really only goes seven-deep. Is that worth it when they need to be as fresh as possible in the Big Dance?
Let’s not forget that they now have to play Sunday against one of two other elite teams, the Florida Gators or Alabama Crimson Tide. Is it worth exerting even more energy to try to win that? Maybe it will be if they do get a better draw next week, making their path to the Final Four easier. At the same time, it could have drained them.
Of course, Zakai Zeigler seems to have a motor that never stops, and he scored 20 points in this game. Chaz Lanier remains a reliable scorer, dropping 12 points, and to his credit, he seemed to conserve energy by not attacking the basket. Vol fans just have to hope that was to conserve energy and not out of fear of contact.
Jordan Gainey also has the hot hand, which. has been continuing through the end of the regular season, as he scored 15 points off the bench. Winning on the boards, 35-27, and contesting every shot is worthy of praise, but it could have caused long-term problems.
UT, which finished 12-6 in the regular season in SEC play, improves to 27-6 overall. Auburn, which finished 15-3 in league play, falls to 28-5. On Sunday, Tennessee Basketball will be looking to win its second SEC Tournament Championship in four years.
