WATCH: Tennessee and Auburn Coaches, Players React to SEC Tournament Semifinal Thriller

Rick Barnes Bruce Pearl Tennessee Auburn
Tennessee HC Rick Barnes (L) and Auburn HC Bruce Pearl (R). Photos via SEC Communications.

(4) Tennessee and (1) Auburn battled it out in an SEC Tournament semifinal thriller on Saturday afternoon in Nashville.

The Vols won by a score of 70-65 in a heavyweight bout as Tennessee now prepares for the SEC Tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon in Bridgestone Arena.

Stars led the way on Saturday as Auburn’s Johni Broome hit a game-high 23 points while Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler and Jordan Gainey had 20 and 15 points, respectively. The difference in the game, though, was at the free-throw line.

Getting fouls is one thing, but capitalizing on those fouls is a different story entirely. Tennessee and Auburn were on both sides of that theory in Bridgestone.

The Vols finished 25-of-27 from the free-throw line while Auburn was just 13-of-22. In hindsight, it’s easy to see that Tennessee’s +12-point advantage at the line was a massive separating point between two great teams.

Both teams participated in media sessions after the game, as usual. Tennessee started things off with Rick Barnes, Zakai Zeigler, and Jordan Gainey, who were followed by Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, Johni Broome, and Dylan Cardwell.

More from RTI: Johni Broome Compliments Tennessee After Being Eliminated by the Volunteers

Check out both postgame interviews below:

Tennessee – Rick Barnes, Zakai Zeigler, Jordan Gainey

Auburn – Bruce Pearl, Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell

Tennessee Highlights

Tennessee will face the winner of (2) Florida/(3) Alabama on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. ET in the SEC Championship game. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live, on-site coverage of the game from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Sunday.

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