BY ALEJANDRO LOPEZ
Despite dropping its final two regular season games, Auburn entered the SEC tournament as one of college basketball’s true powerhouses.
After its loss against Tennessee on Saturday, one has to wonder if this powerhouse is as formidable as they were once thought to be.
At one point this season, the Tigers were ranked the No. 1 team by the AP Poll for eight straight weeks, with a 28-4 overall record, but Tennesee eliminated them in the semifinals of the SEC tournament 70-65.
Zakai Zegler led the way for the Volunteers with 20 points in a close contest.
“He’s been around,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes told ESPN about Zegler. “He’s competitive. I thought he had great command of his team today, especially in the huddles.”
Tennesse will quickly turn their attention to Sunday’s game for the ACC title.
“Coach Barnes does a really good job at keeping us humble every single day in practice,” Zegler told ESPN. “We really haven’t done anything yet.”
While the Tigers have been relatively untouchable this season, 4 of their 5 losses have been in SEC play. Considering that the SEC will certainly have more tournament bids than any other conference in college basketball, that could be a critical weakness for one of the favorites in the Big Dance.
Potential Naismith National Player of the Year Johni Broome missed two critical free throws after a controversial foul call that could have cut the lead to just 1 for Auburn. He shot just 5-12 from the line in the game.
Tennessee will play the winner of Alabama and Florida for a chance at the ACC title on Sunday.
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