Tennessee captured its first SEC Tournament championship in 43 years Sunday, defeating Texas A&M, 65-50.
The Vols led wire-to-wire in the win, building a 14-0 lead in the opening minutes and never leading by less than five points after that.
Freshman guard Kennedy Chandler was named SEC Tournament MVP, while Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi joined him on the All-Tournament team.
Vescovi led Tennessee on Sunday with 17 points on four made 3-pointers. James contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds for his third career double-double, while Chandler had 14 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
Super senior John Fulkerson scored eight points and had a career-high-tying 12 rebounds.
After trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, Texas A&M used a quick spurt out of halftime to cut Tennessee’s lead to five points at the 16:10 mark on a 3-pointer from Tyrece Radford—the smallest deficit that the Aggies had faced since the opening minutes of the game.
However, Tennessee did not let Texas A&M draw any closer—immediately responding with a 12-2 run to extend its lead back to 15 points. The last nine of the 12 points during that run came from Vescovi, who hit two 3-pointers and sank three straight free throws from another 3-point attempt that he was fouled on.
Between Vescovi, James, Chandler and SEC All-Freshman Teamer Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee made six of its first seven 3-point attempts of the second half.
After Vescovi’s nine straight points, Texas A&M drew no closer than 11 points.
Out of the gates, Tennessee was red-hot, building a 14-0 lead by the 15:16 mark. The fast start was aided by three made 3-pointers—one each from Chandler, James and Vescovi.
Following its slow start in which it missed its first eight shots, Texas A&M steadily climbed back into the game, responding to Tennessee’s early 14-0 lead with a 10-2 run to cut their deficit to six points.
The Aggies were unable to draw closer than six points in the first half, entering halftime facing a 29-20 deficit.
