Tennessee knocks off Auburn in men's SEC basketball tournament semifinal

The race for a No. 1 seed in the men's NCAA Tournament just got tighter on Saturday.

In the men's SEC basketball tournament, No. seed 4 Tennessee knocked off No. 1 seed Auburn 70-65 in the SEC semifinal from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The No. 3-ranked Tigers fell to 28-5, but had three losses over their final four games. The No. 6-ranked Vols will take on the winner of No. 4 Florida-No. 8 Alabama in the championship game on Sunday.

Following a tight first half in which Auburn held a slim 33-32 halftime lead, the Vols jumped out by 12 points to a 64-52 lead with 6:06 remaining in the game. However, Auburn responded with a 10-0 run in less than two minutes to cut the lead to two. The Tigers never got closer, as Chad Baker-Mazara missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 16 seconds left.

The Vols held on in a game featuring 18 lead changes and eight ties. Zakai Zeigler led the Vols with 20 points, which included 9-of-9 free throw shooting. Jodan Gainey added 15 points and Chaz Lanier added 12.

Johni Broome ― the SEC Player of the Year ― led Auburn with 23 points and seven rebounds, but missed a pair of free throws with the Tigers trailing by three with 29 seconds left. He shot 5 of 12 from the free-throw line, while Auburn shot 13 of 22 as a team. Miles Kelly added 13 points, and Denver Jones finished with 10 for the Tigers.

The Tigers entered play on Saturday at the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, per ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi. It's unlikely Saturday's loss knocks the Tigers out of a No. 1 seeding, but Duke and Houston are favorites to overtake them. Tennessee and the other semifinalists ― Florida and Alabama ― are likely competitors for the No. 1 seed.

The Gators joined Auburn, Duke and Houston as the No. 1 seeds in Lunardi's latest bracketology. Tennessee and Alabama entered as the No. 2 seeds.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Auburn upset by Tennessee in SEC Tournament semifinal

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