Adams: Vols are in rare SEC form

TAMPA, Fla. - Tennessee’s SEC basketball tournament history didn’t matter Friday night. Last Sunday didn’t matter, either.

UT played as though it wanted to stay awhile. It played as though last Sunday were a fluke.

What a switch, huh?

The Vols were so dominant in an 86-62 victory over Alabama, it’s a wonder that security guards didn’t stop the game and demand to see identification. Who were those guys?

They looked nothing like the bunch that usually makes nothing more than a cameo appearance in the conference tournament. You blink, and they’re gone.

The Vols seemingly had a double-digit lead by first blink against the Tide, which upset them just five days ago at Thompson-Boling Arena. They were up by 14 before the 11-minute mark, and they were just getting warmed up.

UT led by as many as 28 points in the second half in beating Alabama in the second round of the SEC tournament at the St. Pete Times Forum. It was UT’s most one-sided SEC tournament victory in 60 years, and its most lopsided victory over Alabama in 10 years.

You can’t appreciate the performance without a little more history. Since advancing to the finals of the tournament in 1991, UT had won only eight games overall and just three by double-digit margins. During the same stretch, it had lost by as many as 61 to Kentucky and 35 to Alabama.

But there was never a hint of tournament ineptitude or indifference for a team that already has earned its way into the NCAA tournament. Nor were there any reminders of the last UT-Alabama match-up, which the Tide won on a last-second shot.

In fact, Alabama often looked so overmatched, you might have wondered if Mark Gottfried had reclaimed the head-coaching job he lost the last week of January.

UT didn’t beat that team Friday night. It beat a team that had perked up significantly following Gottfried’s firing and had won five of its last six games under interim head coach Philip Pearson.

The Tide never measured up against the Vols, who more than matched Alabama’s athleticism and played as well defensively as they have all season. UT was so superior near the basket, its dreadful 3-point shooting (4-for-24) was more comical than tragic.

Such misfiring on the perimeter sabotaged the Vols in numerous regular-season ventures. It didn’t faze them against Alabama.

The victory was even more impressive when contrasted to the regular season, during which UT sometimes struggled against quick, athletic teams like Alabama. This time, the Vols beat Alabama at its own game while playing both hard and smart.

They also played as though they were motivated. But the motivation wasn’t what you might have expected.

Forget UT’s woeful tournament history. That’s ancient history to these guys.

Instead, the Vols were looking to the tournament to come.

“It was more about seeding,” UT forward Tyler Smith said. “If we can handle these three games (in the SEC tournament) like we want to, we can improve our seeding (for the NCAA tournament).”

And if that’s what it takes for a performance like UT delivered against Alabama, there’s nothing wrong with looking ahead.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.