Tennessee one-and-done at the SEC Tournament as the No. 1 seed, loses 73-56 to Miss. State

NASHVILLE — No. 5 Tennessee saved its worst performance of the season for the first game of the postseason. The Vols couldn’t hit a shot in the first half against Mississippi State Friday in the SEC Tournament, trailed by 19 points at halftime and had no answers after in the second half.

The result was a 73-56 loss in the quarterfinal round — the most lopsided loss and the lowest-scoring game of the season — and a one-and-done appearance at the SEC Tournament as the bracket’s No. 1 seed.

Tennessee (24-8), swept by Mississippi State in two games this season, got 14 points from Dalton Knecht on 4-for-16 shooting. The Vols shot just 19-for-62 from the field and 8-for-33 from the foul line.

Zakai Zeigler score 14 of his team-high 20 points in the second half. 6-for-15. Jonas Aidoo had five points and 10 rebounds while shooting 2-for-6 and Santiago Vescovi had four points, going 1-for-6 from the field and 0-for-4 from the 3-point line. Josiah-Jordan James was scoreless, going 0-for-4.

Mississippi State (21-12), which beat Tennessee 77-72 on January 10 in Starkville, led Friday by as many as 23 points. The Bulldogs got 18 from Cameron Matthews and 18 from Josh Hubbard.

Tennessee went on a 10-0 run over a span of 2:37 — Zeigler made back-to-back 3-pointers after a Jahmai Mashack jumper — cutting a 22-point deficit down to 12 with 5:03 to go, forcing a Mississippi State timeout.

The Bulldogs answered with a 5-0 spurt after a Knecht missed three to get the lead back to 17.

It was the first one-game appearance at the SEC Tournament since 2017 for Tennessee, which now turns its attention to the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday (6 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS).

The one-sided first half was summed up in the final nine seconds before halftime.

Matthews hit two free throws after getting fouled by Mashack and Knecht followed with a turnover at midcourt. State took the turnover the other way and Shawn Jones dunked just before the horn to get the lead to 19, the biggest of the game. 

Tennessee started the second half on a 7-2 run over the first four minutes, forcing three turnovers while Mississippi State got called for four fouls, but it didn’t matter. The Vols could get no closer than 12 and were down 22 by the time Rick Barnes called for a timeout with 11:43 to go.

Tennessee shot 20.6% from the field in the first half, went 2-for-18 from three

Tennessee, after starting 5-for-27 against Kentucky in the 85-81 loss at home on Saturday, shot just 20.6% from the field in the first half Friday, going 7-for-34. The Vols were 2-for-18 at the 3-point line. Zeigler went 2-for-9 and Knecht was 2-for-8. Aidoo and Vescovi were both 1-for-4 and Jordan Gainey was 1-for-3. 

The Vols had eight more shot attempts than State over the first 20 minutes and still trailed 38-19 at the break after turning it over nine times, including one stretch of four straight. State scored eight points off the turnovers and outscored Tennessee 28-6 in the paint. 

Mississippi State was dominant inside the 3-point line, going 15-for-21 on 2-point attempts and shooting 61.5% from the field as a team. Matthews had 12 points on a perfect 5-for-5 performance in the first half and DaShawn Davis had seven on 3-for-6 shooting. 

Tennessee’s previous season low for points in a half was 22 at Mississippi State, where the Vols trailed by 15 at halftime, rallied to tie the game in the second half, then lost on a Tolu Smith three-point play with 14 seconds left. 

Mississippi State started to take control Friday with a 13-2 run early on, going up 15-4 after back-to-back Tobe Awaka turnovers was followed by a Tennessee shot-clock violation. A Knecht 3-pointer at the 8:56 mark got Tennessee back within eight, but Mississippi State closed the half on a 17-5 run from there.

Up Next: Selection Sunday, 6 p.m. ET, CBS

Tennessee now turns its attention to the NCAA Tournament bracket reveal, set for Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS. 

The Vols were chasing the first NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed in program history but saw those hopes dashed after the crash against Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal round. 

Tennessee will likely now be a No. 2 seed, with ESPN’s projections on Friday morning sending the Vols to the South Region (Dallas) with No. 1-seed Houston.

The Vols have been a No. 2 seed three times in program history, in 2006, 2008 and 2019. The Vols went to the Sweet Sixteen in 2019 before losing to No. 3-seed Purdue in overtime in Louisville.