NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 5 Tennessee lost in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday to Mississippi State inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The final score was 73-56.
The Vols fell down 7-2 early, and the same Bulldogs that caused UT problems in the loss Tennessee suffered on the road in Starkville earlier this season were the reason why. Tolu Smith scored Mississippi State’s first four points and then Josh Hubbard scored on a bucket plus the foul. Smith scored 23 points in the first meeting and Hubbard scored 25.
Tennessee fell behind 15-4 early as they only shot 2-12 from the field and then turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions that led to buckets both times.
The Vols trimmed the lead back down to double digits after a steal from Jordan Gainey that resulted in Zakai Zeigler drawing a shooting foul. He made both free throws to cut the deficit to nine points. After forcing another turnover, Santiago Vescovi scored on a layup to make it 15-8.
The Bulldogs responded with a bucket of their own, but then Gainey made a three-pointer to cut the deficit to six. However, Deshawn Davis scored on an and-ne and Mississippi State built their lead back up to nine. He then scored on a layup to put the Bulldogs back up double-digits, making the score 22-11.
Dalton Knecht trimmed their lead down to single digits with a three-pointer, as the Bulldogs led 22-14. After a free throw and a Hubbard three-pointer the lead went back to 26-14 and the Vols continued to struggle shooting the ball, going 5 of 25 from the field to this point.
Mississippi State got up 34-18 as they continued to dominate inside. Cameron Matthews scored on a dunk plus the foul with 2:31 left in the first half. The Bulldogs outscored the Vols 26-6 in the paint as the first half was in its final minutes.
Turnovers were a problem in the first half for UT as they had nine. The Bulldogs capitalized on one right before the buzzer. After a steal, Shawn Jones Jr. scored on a second-chance dunk. They led 38-19 at halftime.
The Vols showed some life to start the second half. They went on a 7-2 run holding the Bulldogs to just one field goal and forcing three turnovers through the first media timeout. Knecht Zeigler and Aidoo all scored and UT trailed 40-26. UT inched closer following a floater from Knecht to get UT down 12. On the other end, Hubbard drilled a three and the lead went back up to 15.
Mississippi State’s lead got up to as many as 23 points in the second half.
With the Vols down 60-38, they put a run together. Jahmai Mshack scored on a jump shot, then a layup. Zeigler scored on two three-pointers. With 5:00 to go the Vols trailed 60-48.
The Bulldogs stopped the late surge as D.J. Jeffries knocked down a three-pointer and then scored on a layup following a missed shot from Zeigler. Mississippi State led 65-48 with 3:21 to go.
The Vols would not recover and suffered a loss in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals for the second year in a row following their 2022 championship.
Tennessee will find out their NCAA Tournament seed and first and second round location on Selection Sunday, which is March 17. It is very unlikely Tennessee will be a 1 seed for the first time in program history.
