Tennessee rolls to SEC quarterfinals with win over Ole Miss

No. 13 seed Ole Miss fought like hell, but couldn’t do enough to send the No. 5 seed Tennessee Volunteers home in the Second Round of the SEC Tournament. Up as many as six in the first half and cutting the deficit to just four in the second, the Rebels let go of the rope in the final ten minutes, with the Vols pushing the lead to double-digits and never looking back.

UT would close out the win with its biggest lead of the game at 15 points, a 70-55 final inside Bridgestone Arena.

As a team, Tennessee shot 47.1% from the field, 35.7% from three and 85.7% at the line. Ole Miss shot OK from three at 35.0%, but just 37.7% overall and 66.7% at the line. The Volunteers dominated the glass, outrebounding the Rebels 38-22 overall.

Josiah-Jordan James led the winning team with 20 points on 6-13 shooting and 4-11 from three to go with a team-high seven rebounds. Santiago Vescovi added 15 points on 4-12 shooting and 3-10 from three while finishing with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. No one else finished in double figures, but nine total Volunteers scored buckets in the win.

For the losing team, Myles Burns finished with a team-high 14 points on 5-8 shooting, while Jaemyn Brakefield and Matthew Murrell added 12 points apiece, the former on 4-8 shooting and the latter on 4-14.

What does the win mean for Tennessee? Well, nothing for Kentucky — not yet, at least. The Volunteers move on to face No. 4 seed Missouri on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET on the other side of the bracket, with that winner taking on either No. 1 seed Alabama or No. 9 seed Mississippi State on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET in the semifinals.

That’s where Kentucky would come in, with that winner potentially matching up with the Wildcats in the SEC title game. Long road to get there, but that’s the path nonetheless.

An updated look at what’s to come here in Nashville, with all times listed in EST.

Thursday, March 9

• Game 5: No. 7 Auburn vs. No. 10 Arkansas | 7 p.m. | SEC Network
• Game 6: No. 6 Vanderbilt vs. No. 14 LSU | 9:30 p.m. | SEC Network

Friday, March 10

• Game 7: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 9 Mississippi State | 1 p.m. | ESPN
• Game 8: No. 4 Missouri vs. No. 5 Tennessee | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN
• Game 9: No. 2 Texas A&M vs. Game 5 winner | 7 p.m. | SEC Network
• Game 10: No. 3 Kentucky vs. Game 6 winner | 9:30 p.m. | SEC Network

Saturday, March 11

• Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner | 1 p.m. | ESPN
• Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN

Sunday, March 12

• Semifinal winners | 1 p.m. | ESPN

More to come, BBN. Evening session begins in just over an hour.