Tennessee has earned a chance at sixth-ranked Alabama in Saturday afternoon’s Southeastern Conference basketball tournament semifinals inside Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, but the resilient Volunteers will likely be shorthanded against the top-seeded Crimson Tide.
A 78-66 victory by the fourth-seeded Vols over fifth-seeded Florida in Friday’s quarterfinal matchup was overshadowed by Gators sophomore forward Omar Payne delivering an elbow to the head of Tennessee senior forward John Fulkerson. The incident occurred less than three minutes into the second half and left Fulkerson on the floor for several minutes before he was helped to the locker room.
Payne was ejected from the game with Tennessee leading 35-26.
“It kind of pissed us off, and that really motivated us to keep going and not relax,” Vols senior forward Yves Pons said. “We had his back. That was a dirty play, and it has nothing to do with basketball.”
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said afterward that Fulkerson was taken to the hospital “more for his eye than anything else.” The 6-foot-9, 215-pounder from Kingsport helped the Vols build a 31-22 halftime lead on 3-for-4 shooting, and he was coming off a 14-point, seven-rebound performance in last Sunday’s 65-54 win over the Gators in Knoxville that closed the regular season for both teams.