Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said he'd like to believe the Vols finally hit rock-bottom in the first half against Vanderbilt before rallying for the win Saturday afternoon.

"No question, our backs were against the wall,'' said Pearl, whose No. 11 Vols came back from a 16-point second-half deficit to score a 68-59 victory over the Commodores. "I'd like to see us go from a team that looked spent and had wore itself out to a team that's going to be dangerous in the tournament.''

UT (21-6, 12-4 SEC) opens the SEC tournament at 1 p.m. Friday at Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center against the winner of Thursday's 1 p.m. game between South Carolina (15-14, 6-10) and Mississippi State (15-14, 5-11).

"If we win the SEC tournament, I believe we could be as high as a No. 2 seed (in the NCAA tournament),'' Pearl said. "If we don't do well, we could fall as low as a No. 4.''

Pearl said he knows to expect a fight if the Gamecocks prevail over the Bulldogs.

The Vols needed to overcome a 15-point second-half deficit to beat South Carolina in Columbia, 76-69, in both teams' SEC opener on Jan. 8. When the Gamecocks came to Knoxville, UT emerged with a 81-65 win.

"South Carolina is a dangerous team because of its ability to shoot the ball and spread the floor,'' Pearl said. "They've demonstrated they're capable of beating the best teams with two wins over Florida, a close loss to LSU and then they've taken us the distance both times.

"They're an experienced team, having won the NIT last year.''

The Vols beat Mississippi State, 88-65, in Starkville on Jan. 25, but Pearl said that was a different UT team than the one that's been on display of late.

"Mississippi State is a team we played exceptionally well against,'' Pearl said. "We played them when we were playing our best basketball of the season.

"They're a team that's built to challenge us because they're big and strong inside.''

The Bulldogs are coming off a 71-58 victory over Alabama on Saturday.

Lofton Wooden: UT sophomore shooting guard Chris Lofton was one of 22 players named to the Wooden Award's All-American Team and Player of the Year's final ballot Sunday.

The winner will be announced on April 8.

Lofton ranked third in the league in SEC games this year with an 18.1 points per game scoring average and led the SEC with 46.9 percent 3-point shooting and 3.81 3-pointers per game.

Lofton, whose 48.8 field goal percentage is fifth in the SEC and tops among league guards, has hit a UT single-season record 103 3-pointers this year.