Tennessee basketball moved a step closer to an SEC tournament championship Saturday. More importantly, it made a compelling case for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament with a 70-65 victory over Auburn at Bridgestone Arena.
The Vols began the SEC tournament projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. But the victory over SEC tournament top-seeded Auburn, which seemingly is already assured of a No. 1 seed in March Madness, enhanced UT’s chances for the same status in the tournament to come.No matter what happens Sunday, it’s hard to argue that the Vols haven’t done enough to warrant a top seed. They’re 27-6 with victories over three of the nation’s premier teams – SEC rivals Auburn, Alabama and Florida.
The SEC’s overall success also should favor the Vols. The conference is 185-23 in nonconference games and could place 13 or 14 teams in the NCAA tournament.If seeding is still open to debate, this much is certain: Auburn and Tennessee are national championship contenders. Both looked the part in the SEC semifinals, just as they did in the Tigers’ 53-51 victory in Auburn on Jan. 25.
UT’s toughness was obvious as always with its hardnosed defense but also in going hard to the basket against Auburn. If the Vols couldn’t close out at the rim, they were able to draw fouls.
Once fouled, UT demonstrated its touch time and time again at the free-throw line, where it was 25 for 27.
Tennessee’s success at the foul line was magnified by Auburn’s shortcomings.
National player of the year candidate Johni Broome missed two free throws in the last minute when the Tigers had an opportunity to cut Tennessee’s lead to a point after the Vols had led by as many as 12. He also missed his first four free-throw attempts and was 5-for-12 for the game.
Never mind that Broome often was unstoppable in the low post, as he was in the regular-season matchup. The misses proved crucial when contrasted with UT’s accuracy from the foul line.
Zakai Zeigler led the way for the Vols by hitting all nine of his free throws on the way to a 20-point performance. Two of his points came on a drive against the much taller Broome. Guard Jordan Gainey also converted on a drive against 6-foot-11 Dylan Cardwell. Those plays were indicative of how Tennessee repeatedly challenged Auburn’s defense at the rim.
At its best, during a second-half surge, Tennessee upped its lead to 62-50, but Auburn quickly responded with a charge of its own to raise the suspense in the final minutes – again proving these teams are too evenly matched to gain much separation against one another.
Broome gives the Tigers a distinct advantage inside, and Auburn has a deeper bench. But depth hasn’t been an issue for the Vols in winning back-to-back tournament games.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes relied on his usual eight-player rotation, and that was enough against the Tigers. In fact, backups Gainey, Cam Phillips and Darlinstone Dubar contributed more than Auburn’s reserves. That bodes well for the NCAA tournament, which came up for discussion postgame on ESPN.
Zeigler was asked what it would mean for Tennessee to reach the Final Four for the first time in school history.
“It would mean a lot,” he said. “If we come out and do our job, we’ve got a good chance of doing that.”
Tennessee’s job performance against Auburn proved as much.
