Tennessee guard Jordan McRae (52) reacts to play with Jeronne Maymon (34) during their NCAA basketball game against Florida in the semifinal round of the Southeastern Conference men’s tournament, Saturday, March 15, 2014, in Atlanta.
Tennessee’s Jordan McRae squats on the court as Florida center Patric Young (4) celebrates after the top-ranked Gators’ 56-49 win in the SEC tournament semifinals in Atlanta.ATLANTA – Frustrating SEC basketball tournament exits have become fairly common for Tennessee.
A loss to top-ranked Florida in Saturday afternoon’s semifinals brought a different ending that had the Volunteers shaking their heads in the locker room after the game.
Florida snapped the Vols’ five-game winning streak by scoring the last seven points in a 56-49 win at the Georgia Dome.
After leading by as many as 10 in the first half and answering two of the SEC regular-season champion Gators’ patented spurts, Tennessee felt it was on the short end of a couple of officiating decisions in the final five minutes.
“It’s very frustrating,” said Vols forward Jarnell Stokes, who had 13 points and seven rebounds. “It’s almost like I forgot how losing felt because of how well we’ve been playing, but we didn’t hit shots toward the end.