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Tennessee Basketball will be No. 4 seed in SEC Tournament

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 21 hours•

GrantRamey

Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Basketball | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
(Randy Sartin-Imagn Images) Mar 8, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) during the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

No. 4 Tennessee will be the No. 4 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena, after the Vols beat South Carolina 75-65 at Food City Center on Saturday and No. 7 Alabama beat No. 1 Auburn at Neville Arena in Auburn.

The No. 4 seed plays the second afternoon game Friday in the quarterfinal round, at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN. The No. 1 seed plays at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Tennessee will face either the No. 5, No. 12 or No. 13 seed on Friday.

Chaz Lanier scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half to lead Tennessee (25-6, 12-6 SEC) in the win over South Carolina on Saturday. Cade Phillips had 15 points and four rebounds and Jordan Gainey had 10 points six assists off the bench. Igor Milicic Jr. scored 13.

Vols finished with 12-6 record in SEC play

Tennessee finished 12-6 in SEC play, winning eight of its final 10 games of the regular season, dating back to the 64-44 win over Florida on February 1. 

The only losses over the last five weeks were at Kentucky on February 11 and at Ole Miss on Wednesday. Tennessee lost three road games in conference play by a combined five points, falling 76-75 at Vanderbilt, 53-51 at Auburn and the two-point loss at Ole Miss. 

Tennessee started the season by tying a program record with a 14-0 start, including a 76-52 win over Arkansas to start SEC play on January 4. The Vols lost four of their next four of their next seven over three weeks.

Tennessee’s history in the SEC Tournament under Rick Barnes

Tennessee won the SEC Tournament in 2022 — the program’s first conference tournament championship since 1979 — after beating Mississippi State, Kentucky and Texas A&M over three days in Tampa. 

The Vols played for the SEC Tournament title in both 2018 and 2019, losing to Kentucky in 2018 in St. Louis and to Auburn a year later in Nashville.

Tennessee was one-and-done in the SEC Tournament a year ago, losing 73-56 to Mississippi State before going on an NCAA Tournament run to the Elite Eight. 

The Vols lost in the quarterfinals to Missouri in 2023, after beating Ole Miss a day earlier, and went to the semifinals in 2021 before losing to Alabama.

Tennessee played three games in the 2016 SEC Tournament, in the first year under Rick Barnes, beating Auburn and Vanderbilt before losing to LSU in the quarterfinals as the No. 12 seed. The Vols were one-and-done in 2017 after a loss to Georgia in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed game.

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