NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tenth-seeded Tennessee whittled away most of a 20-point halftime deficit, but No. 2 seed Arkansas staved off the comeback and defeated the Vols, 80-72, in the SEC basketball tournament quarterfinals Friday night at Bridgestone Arena.
The No. 21-ranked Razorbacks scored the game's first 13 points and dominated the first 20 minutes, but just as Tennessee has done all season, the Vols never quit, before suffering the defeat.
“We talked a ton the last 24 hours as a team, the biggest key would be to take care of the basketball and not turn it over against (Arkansas’) pressure,” Vols coach Donnie Tyndall said. “We started the game on our heels.”
Kevin Punter scored nine straight points as the Vols cut a 67-59 deficit to 69-65 with 3:37 remaining in the game. The Vols were within four points twice in the final four minutes, but could not complete a stunning comeback for a second night in a row.
Senior Josh Richardson had his first career double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out. Punter scored 13 points.
Richardson could have played his final college game, unless the NIT invites the Vols into its tournament.
“I don’t want to dwell on the past or anything like that in the game,” Richardson said. “We were just trying to attacking them when we got rebounds. Coach kept telling us if you get an open look, let it fly. So, that’s what we were doing.”
Freshman Tariq Owens tallied a career-high seven points.
Tennessee (16-16) now awaits its postseason. The Vols have little or no chance at making the NCAA tournament, but hold out hope the NIT might call their names and extend the season. The NCAA bracket will be announced Sunday night.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino has said his team would not play in any other postseason tournament other than the NCAAs.
What would Tyndall do?
“That would be something I would discuss with my athletic director (Dave Hart) and Jon Gilbert,” he said. “It would probably be no postseason unless it happened to be the NIT. If we get an invitation there, I believe we would certainly do that. The other two would be up for discussion, although we would lean toward saying we probably would not play in either of the other two.”
Arkansas (25-7) will take on the winner of the Georgia-South Carolina winner in Saturday’s semifinals. Top-ranked Kentucky takes on LSU in the other semifinal. The championship is scheduled for Sunday.
SEC Player of the Year Bobby Portis had a monster game with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Qualls added 20 points for the Razorbacks. Portis scored 18 first-half points on 7-of-10 shooting and also grabbed six rebounds.
“The biggest thing is he’s so strong and athletic,” Tyndall said. “He’s got great hands. His second jump is incredible. Probably four or five, six of his points came on offensive rebounds where we didn’t block him out.”
Arkansas opened the game making their first five field goals to bust out to a 13-0 lead. Devon Baulkman finally ended the drought for the Vols with a 3-pointer, 4:39 into the game.
Down by 15 points, 5:20 into the game, Tennessee rallied to cut an 18-3 deficit to just seven points at 20-13 on a Robert Hubbs 3-pointer with 10 minutes left in the half.
Arkansas built a lead of 45-25 at halftime. Portis had 18 points in the first half as the Razorback shot 51.6 from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
The Vols made only four field goals in the first half, shooting 16.0 percent. They did convert 15-of-17 free throws.
Tennessee outscored Arkansas in the second half, 47-35, but the first-half deficit was too much to overcome.
The Vols got within nine points at 57-48 by making 9-of-11 shots during a 13-2 run midway through the second half spanning more than five minutes.
Arkansas regained a 14-point lead before the Vols cut to it five points on consecutive Punter 3-pointers with less than five minutes to go, bringing the Vols within 67-62.
Tennessee got within four points on two occasions in the final four minutes, but that was as close as they would get.