Tennessee was the class of the Southeastern Conference in 2024. The Vols claimed their first outright league title since 2008 and were in the driver’s seat to grab the final No. 1 seed. Despite a solid hoops tradition, Tennessee has never been a No. 1 seed.
Rick Barnes‘ team probably needs a couple of good wins in Nashville at the SEC Tournament to get there now after Kentucky stunned Tennessee as an 8.5-point road underdog on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Reed Sheppard finished with 27 points on 14 field goal attempts with six rebounds, and five assists in 33 minutes. Antonio Reeves poured in 27 points on 18 field goal attempts with seven rebounds in 37 minutes. All-American and likely SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht did drop 40 points on 31 field goal attempts for Tennessee, but it was the lack of production from the supporting cast that got Kentucky to the winner’s circle.
Five-man Jonas Aidoo needed 11 shot attempts to get to 11 points. Josiah Jordan-James, Santiago Vescovi, and Zakai Ziegler were a combined 6 of 20 (30%) after shooting 10 of 19 (52.6%) in Tennessee’s 103-92 win at Rupp Arena on Feb. 3. Vols outside of Knecht shot just 6 of 23 (26.1%) from two-point range.