NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Cameron Matthews and Josh Hubbard each scored 18 points and No. 9 seed Mississippi State defeated No. 5 Tennessee 73-56 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Friday. I was overwhelmed.
The win gives the Bulldogs (21-12) their second win over No. 1 seed Tennessee this season and will put them firmly out of the NCAA Tournament bubble. Saturday's semifinal will be the first since winning the tournament in 2009, when they will face the winner of No. 15 South Carolina and No. 12 Auburn.
Mississippi State ended the regular season with a four-game loss, but the Vols finished with two wins, two losses, and one tie, never trailing behind the SEC's top seed. The Bulldogs also held AP SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht to 14 points, averaging 25.5 points per game.
Tennessee (24-8) lost its second straight game, ending its hopes of earning the No. 1 seed for the first time in NCAA Tournament history.
The regular-season champion Vols will be eliminated as quarterfinal losers for the second consecutive year after winning this tournament in 2022.
For Tennessee, Zakai Zeigler scored a game-high 20 points and Jahmai Masyak added 10 points.
Volunteers had plenty of oranges to support fans desperate to give them energy. But no matter how openly they looked at the basket, they struggled to make shots. After defeating LSU in the tournament opener, Mississippi State appears to be too good to pass up.
The Bulldogs shot 62.5 percent from the floor and led 38-19 at halftime, with Sean Jones Jr. getting off to a dominant start with a buzzer-beating dunk after a rare error by a teammate. The first half held Tennessee to its lowest points of the season, three fewer than the last time the teams met.
Mississippi State led by as many as 23 points midway through the second half. After the Vols scored 10 straight points to get within 60-48, DJ Jeffries hit a 3 and then a layup to end Tennessee's hopes of a comeback.
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Mississippi State: The Bulldogs are one of 16 teams with at least two wins over top-10 teams in league play, and that came after defeating Tennessee in January.
Tennessee: Knecht redeemed the Vols with his own big run after some lackluster performances in the first half of the regular season. This time, it was 2 of 9 in the second half. The Vols are currently 10-4 against coach Rick Barnes' Bulldogs.
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Mississippi State defeated South Carolina 93-89, including overtime in the final game of the regular season. The Bulldogs split with Auburn, with each team winning on their home floor.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
