What's done is done, but after meeting with Tennessee players this week, Vols' basketball coach Bruce Pearl said the pain lingers.

"They're still hurting, and I think they will be until the (NCAA) tournament is over,'' said Pearl, who's in Indianapolis attending the Final Four. "It's difficult to watch the tournament; it's painful.

"I'm proud of the SEC, and what (Florida and LSU) did to reach the Final Four adds credibility to what we accomplished this year.''

Pearl, The Sporting News national coach of the year and the SEC coach of the year as voted on by the Associated Press, led the Vols to a 22-8 record and the East Division title in his first year.

Tennessee was picked to finish fifth in the SEC East and 10th overall in the conference in the preseason.

"I'm very pleased with this season — don't get me wrong — and I am honored we're the champions of the SEC East,'' Pearl said. "But we fell one game short. We talked all year long about seeding, even early in the year, and how it's a key to advancing in the tournament.''

The Vols' path to the Final Four, Pearl notes, would have been Winthrop, Wichita State, George Mason and Connecticut.

Doable, Pearl said, had Tennessee finished the year playing its best basketball.

Pearl pointed out UT was 3-2 against Elite Eight teams and 2-1 against Final Four teams.

"You can't help but look at that,'' Pearl said. "We earned what we had with a two (seed), and we didn't take full advantage of that.''

Wichita State eliminated the Vols in the second round, 80-73, before falling to George Mason in the Sweet 16.

Pearl feels greater regret over the Wichita State loss than any loss this season, and not just because it was the last game in UT's season.

"We beat everyone we were supposed to beat and a lot of teams we weren't, but we finally lost to someone we should have beat,'' Pearl said. "I did not do a good enough job for us to win, and that hurts a little bit more when it's the last game.''

Pearl said he ran out of answers, and the Vols ran out of steam.

"We put our guys in position to be successful and play to their strengths, and when their strengths were taken away, we didn't have a Plan Z,'' Pearl said. "We had 25 plans, but we didn't have that 26th.''

Tennessee also didn't have the second wind that enabled it to wear down opponents in the regular season.

"Why did we win all those close games? Because we wore them all out,'' Pearl said. "But by the end of the year, we'd worn ourselves out.

"Playing seven guys a lot of minutes, while it really helped our chemistry throughout the season, if you look at the teams that advanced in the SEC, NCAA and NIT tournaments, Florida and South Carolina, those were two of the deepest teams in the league,'' Pearl said. "They could play back-to-back and withstand foul trouble.

"When Andre Patterson and C.J. Watson got in foul trouble in the NCAA tournament, we had some challenges.''

The Vols were limited in their front-line depth from the start of the season, and Watson, a four-year starter at point guard, was all but irreplaceable.

"I think another thing was the incredible blanket everyone was throwing on Chris (Lofton),'' Pearl said. "He expended a lot of energy trying to get open, and it affected him in other areas.

"Then there was (Dane) Bradshaw's (wrist) injury,'' Pearl said. "He was playing with one hand tied behind his back, and that was a factor in the intangibles.''

Bradshaw played through the injury, suffered on Jan. 21 against Florida, before undergoing surgery to re-attach torn ligaments in his right wrist on March 24.

"Dane wasn't as aggressive trying to make plays for himself and others as the season wound down,'' Pearl said. "He didn't make as many plays the last month of the season. But Dane is a warrior, and he was the glue that held our team together.''

Pearl said the Vols begin their spring training and individual workouts on Monday.

"The emphasis will be in the weight room to get bigger, stronger and tougher,'' Pearl said. "This is the best time of the year for our players to add elements to their game.

"I know they're ready to get back to work and I am, too.''