Lamonte Turner could have offered a diplomatic response proclaiming he and his Tennessee basketball teammates had no interest in a game occurring elsewhere.
Instead, the sophomore guard addressed the matter head-on when the topic of Auburn’s game at Arkansas came up Tuesday night as the Volunteers prepared to board a plane back to Knoxville after their 76-54 win at Mississippi State.
“We will be tuned in,” Turner said. “It would be big for Arkansas to beat them tonight and us have a chance to win a championship. That’s been our goal. That’s been our goal since the summer. We are sticking to it.”
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes calls out to guard Lamonte Turner (1) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018. Tennessee won 73-65. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)The 16th-ranked Vols (22-7, 12-5 Southeastern Conference) are not shying away from their championship aspirations, and Arkansas did its part to help by beating No. 14 Auburn 91-82. That gives Tennessee a chance to win at least a share of the regular-season championship if it beats Georgia this weekend at Thompson-Boling Arena.
With the regular season set to wrap up Saturday for all SEC men’s basketball teams, the race for No. 1 in the league standings is down to Tennessee and Auburn (24-6, 12-5). A Vols win over the Bulldogs and an Auburn loss to South Carolina would make Tennessee the outright regular-season champion.