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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 12: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts against the Auburn Tigers during the second half in the second round of the 2026 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 12, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carly Mackler/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Tennessee Volunteers fell to the Vanderbilt Commodores on Friday in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament.
The game was tight in the first half, and the teams went to the break tied at 31. However, the Commodores went on a 15-3 run early in the second half and were also more efficient from the free throw line. As a result, the Commodores did enough to stay in front of the Vols and escape with a 75-68 victory.
This is now the second time the Vols have lost to the Commodores this season. Vanderbilt now advances to the semifinal round to take on the #1 Florida Gators, while the Vols wait until Sunday to see what their seed will be in the NCAA Tournament.
Now, let’s identify the three takeaways from this defeat.
Free throw shooting dooms Vols again
Stop me if you’ve heard this before- the Vols did not shoot well from the line.
As a team, the Vols shot just 16 of 26 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Commodores shot 22 of 26 from the charity stripe. In a game that you only lost by seven, it’s hard not to look at 10 missed free throws as a huge culprit.
Nate Ament made 10 of his 12 free throws, and J.P. Estrella made all four of his. However, Felix Okpara, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, and Jaylen Carey both had bad days from the line. It’s slightly more understandable for the big men, but there’s no reason a scoring guard like Gillespie should be this inconsistent from the charity stripe.
Three-point shooting was ice cold
You can survive a bad night from the free throw line if you’re hitting shots from deep. If you’re doing neither, though, it’s going to be hard to beat anybody.
The Vols shot just 4 of 17 from behind the arc on Friday. Ament missed all five of his tries, and this team just doesn’t have enough scoring to survive an off night from Ament against good teams. Luckily, the Commodores didn’t have a great night from deep either, so this one never got out of hand.
It’s concerning that this late in the season, you still never know what you’re going to get from this offense. If Ament and Gillespie are hitting their shots, the Vols can hang with anybody. You just never know when that’s going to happen.
Unable to stop Duke Miles
Props to Duke Miles, because he had a fantastic game. The senior guard had a game-high 30 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
In the first 27 minutes of the game, Miles had 25 points. At one point, Miles was 9 of 9 from the floor while the rest of his team was just 6 of 25. The Vols did a fantastic job of controlling the paint, but they were unable to keep Miles in check.
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