A 20-point lead at halftime was too much for the Tennessee Volunteers to overcome. The No. 2 seed Arkansas Razorbacks came out victorious with a 80-72 win to secure a spot in the semifinals in the SEC Tournament, and they will face the winner of Friday night's game between No. 11 South Carolina and No. 3 Georgia.
2015 SEC Tournament bracket and results: Arkansas beats Tennessee, advances to semifinals
Arkansas and Tennessee combined for 57 fouls and 73 free throws in a physical game that ended with the Razorbacks on top.
Arkansas began the game with a 13-0 lead and eventually expanded that margin to 20, but the Volunteers chipped away in the second half and slimmed the Razorbacks lead to just four in the second half. Tennessee was unable to ever get a lead though, and Arkansas coolly hit free throws in the final minutes to put the game on ice.
Free throws were a common sight in the game, which featured 57 fouls and 73 free throws between the two teams.
The highest-scoring duo in the SEC, Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls, dominated scoring again for Arkansas with 46 combined points. In addition to his team-leading 26 points, Portis also led the Razorbacks with 11 rebounds.
The SEC Tournament championship game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. The updated bracket, via CBS:
South Carolina and Georgia were scheduled to tip-off at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, but will instead begin 30 minutes after the final whistle was blown in Arkansas’ win. The schedule for Saturday in the SEC Tournament is as follows:
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 13 Auburn, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 2 Arkansas vs. South Carolina/Georgia winner, 3 p.m., ESPN
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