It took two months for the Tennessee Volunteers to earn the outright Southeastern Conference basketball regular-season championship.
Their stay at the SEC tournament Friday afternoon lasted two hours.
Displaying their most dreadful performance of an otherwise stellar season, the top-seeded Vols fell behind by double digits in the first eight minutes and were no match for ninth-seeded Mississippi State in a shocking 73-56 setback inside Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. The Bulldogs went inside and stayed inside, outscoring Tennessee by 28 when it came to points in the paint.
"We haven't played like that all year in those first 20 minutes," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said afterward on the Vol Network. "I'm not going to take anything away from Mississippi State, but we know our players, and where we were mentally wasn't good. We had some spirited workouts coming into this game, but this was a team that beat us in Starkville.
"We did not stick to our game plan defensively in the first half."
While Mississippi State shot 55.3% from the floor for the game, the Vols were held to a woeful 31.1% clip. Zakai Zeigler and Dalton Knecht led Tennessee with 20 and 14 points, respectively, but they were 11-of-32 combined from the field and 6-of-21 from 3-point range.
Zeigler did make a pair of 3-pointers to pull the Vols within 60-48 with five minutes remaining, but they would get no closer in falling to 24-8.
"If they've got two guys on Dalton, that means somebody else is going to be open and is going to have to make some shots for us," Barnes said. "We didn't make that happen."
The Bulldogs, who entered the SEC tournament squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble, are now a lock for the 68-team field after improving to 21-12. Josh Hubbard and Cam Matthews scored 18 points apiece for the winners, with Matthews collecting his total on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor and a 4-of-5 showing from the free-throw line.
"This means a lot, just knowing what we came into this tournament trying to do, which is get into the NCAA tournament," Matthews said afterward on ESPN. "Tennessee is a great team, and this gives us confidence going into the next tournament."
A three-point play by Hubbard helped Mississippi State jump out to a 9-4 lead at the first media timeout, and a pair of Tobe Awaka turnovers resulted in steals and easy baskets for the Bulldogs as they extended the advantage to 15-4. At the second media break, the Vols were 2-of-13 from the floor, 0-of-6 from 3-point range and had committed six turnovers.
Mississippi State never let up, taking a 26-14 lead on a Hubbard 3-pointer, going up 32-18 on a short jumper by Jimmy Bell Jr., and increasing its advantage to 34-18 on a Matthews dunk with 2:31 before halftime.
A Shawn Jones Jr. dunk just before the halftime horn further extended Mississippi State's lead to 38-19, as the Bulldogs outscored the Vols 28-6 in the paint during the first 20 minutes. Tennessee's 19 points at the half marked a season-low total, topping the 22 the Vols amassed during their 77-72 loss at Mississippi State on Jan. 10.
"We just wanted to be super aggressive," Bulldogs coach Chris Jans said. "Everything we did, we wanted to be aggressive. When you get a shot at playing someone as good as Tennessee that won the conference and deservedly so over an 18-game schedule — our guys just came out and really fought."
The second half started better for the Vols, as Knecht made a quick 3-pointer and Bulldogs big man Tolu Smith picked up his second and third fouls to exit the game. Tennessee pulled within 40-28 on a Knecht layup, but the Bulldogs answered with a 9-0 run and grabbed a 49-28 lead on a pair of Hubbard free throws with 13:07 remaining.
A Hubbard 3-pointer with 9:51 left provided Mississippi State with its largest lead at 58-35.
"I told our guys at halftime that I didn't know who that team was," Barnes said. "We acted almost like we thought we could just show up and play, and you're not going to do that in this league against a team that had already beat us.
"You've got to give Mississippi State credit. They've ended the season on a good run here and have as good a chance as anybody to win this thing and move on."
Roughly an hour before Friday's tip, Knecht was named among the 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy as the nation's top player. He is the lone representative from the SEC.
Pope's pay bump
Tennessee third-year receivers coach Kelsey Pope will earn $550,000 this year, a significant jump from the $225,000 and the $250,000 he made his first two seasons under Josh Heupel after being promoted from offensive analyst for the football program. Pope was scheduled to make $275,000 in 2024, but he recently received a contract extension through the 2025 season that included the doubling in salary.
Pope helped Jalin Hyatt become the program's first Biletnikoff Award winner during the 2022 season and has been a factor in Tennessee recruiting touted receivers as well. Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley were top-100 overall prospects during the 2024 signing cycle and are midyear enrollees.
Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner received a hike from $785,000 to $900,000, which he is scheduled to make each of the next two seasons. Secondary coach Willie Martinez, whose contract expired in January, was extended another year at the same $540,000 salary.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.