Opponent set for No. 1-seed Tennessee in Friday's SEC Tournament quarterfinal game
No. 1-seed Tennessee will face No. 9 Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal round on Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. State advanced after a 70-60 win Thursday over LSU.
Friday’s game will be a 1 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN and will be a Quad 1 opportunity for both teams.
The Vols (24-7) clinched its first outright SEC regular-season championship with a 66-59 win at South Carolina last week, earning the top seed and the double-bye into the SEC Tournament quarterfinal round.
Mississippi State is the only SEC team Tennessee did not beat during the regular season, losing 77-72 at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville on January 10.
Mississippi State (20-12) got 24 points from Josh Hubbard in the win over LSU and DaShawn Davis had 12. Hubbard scored 25 points against Tennessee in the win over the Vols in Starkville in January. Tolu Smith had 23 points and the Bulldogs led by as many as 15 points in the first half.
Tennessee got 28 points and six rebounds from Dalton Knecht and 26 points and seven assists from Zakai Zeigler. The Vols rallied to tie the game with 34 seconds left, but hit two free throws with 14 seconds left for the go-ahead points.
Vols chasing program’s first No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament
Tennessee is currently battling North Carolina for the fourth and final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. The Vols are No. 5 in the NET with a 7-6 Quad 1 record and 6-1 Quad 2 record.
Tennessee’s seven Quad 1 wins came against Auburn (No. 6), Alabama (No. 8; twice), Illinois (No. 15), at Wisconsin (No. 22), Kentucky (No. 19) and at South Carolina (No. 49). The Quad 1 losses are against Purdue (No. 2), at North Carolina (No. 7), Kanas (No. 18), at Mississippi State (No. 42) and at Texas A&M (No. 46).
Top 10
- 1Breaking
AP Poll Shakeup
New Top 25 shows Saturday carnage
- 2Hot
Coaches Poll
Chaos reflected in new Top 25
- 3New
Quinn Ewers MRI
Texas 'cautiously optimistic' on QB
- 4
Updated SEC title game scenarios
The path to the championship game is clear
- 5
Kevin Wilson
Tulsa expected to fire head coach
The Vols are 6-1 in Quad 2, with a home loss to South Carolina (No. 49) and a combined 11-0 in Quad 3 (6-0) and Quad 4 (5-0).
Tennessee has never been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols have been a No. 2 seed three times (2006, 2008 and 2019) and a No. 3 seed twice (2018, 2022).
Tennessee’s SEC Tournament history under Rick Barnes
Tennessee was a No. 5 seed in the SEC Tournament a year ago, beating No. 13 Ole Miss 70-55 before losing to No. 4 Missouri 79-71 in the quarterfinal round.
The Vols won the 2022 SEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., beating No. 6 Mississippi State, No. 3 Kentucky and No. 8 Texas A&M.
Tennessee went to back-to-back SEC Tournament title games in 2018 and 2019. The Vols, as the No. 2, lost to No. 4-seed Kentucky in St. Louis in 2018 and lost to No. 5-seed Auburn as the No. 3 seed in 2019.
No. 9 Georgia beat No. 8 Tennessee in 2017 and the Vols advanced three rounds as the No. 12 seed in 2016, beating No. 13 Auburn and No. 5 Vanderbilt before losing to No. 5 LSU.
