NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Auburn Tigers are taking home their first SEC Tournament championship since 1985 and aren't satisfied.
Not with the NCAA Tournament up next.
Bryce Brown scored 19 points, and No. 22 Auburn won the SEC Tournament title by routing No. 8 Tennessee 84-64 on Sunday.
"We still have a lot more to prove, a lot more to accomplish as a team," said Brown, a senior guard who hadn't won an SEC Tournament game before this week.
Auburn (26-9) hadn't even played for the title since 2000, and the fifth-seeded Tigers won their fourth game in as many days to capture only the second SEC Tournament championship in program history. The Tigers now have won eight consecutive and 10 of their last 11 heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Better yet, Auburn and Coach Bruce Pearl have become the nemesis to his old program, beating Tennessee three consecutive times. Auburn ruined Tennessee's hopes of winning back-to-back SEC regular-season titles for the first time with an 84-80 victory to wrap up the season a week ago, and the Tigers also are the last team to beat Tennessee in Knoxville.
Now Pearl has his first SEC Tournament title at the expense of the first team he coached in the league.
"I get no greater pleasure in beating Tennessee for this SEC championship because I spent so many wonderful years as a Tennessee Vol," Pearl said. "Got great respect for their fans and program, their tradition in basketball."
On the court, Pearl thanked SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey for forgiving him and letting him return to the league as a coach. Pearl was still under an NCAA show cause penalty when Auburn hired him in 2014 for violations committed when he was at Tennessee. He was fired in 2011 for lying to NCAA investigators about a cookout he held for recruits.
"I hope the SEC's better with me in it," Pearl said.
Tennessee (29-5) likely cost itself any chance at the program's first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols will have to win their first-round game to reach 30 victories for only the second time in school history.
"Now it's time to play for the big one," Tennessee senior Admiral Schofield said after being held to a season-low four points.
Chuma Okeke scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds for Auburn, and Danjel Purifoy added 10. Junior guard Jared Harper, Auburn's second-leading scorer, went 1 for 11 and had nine points.
Lamonte' Turner led Tennessee with 24 points. Grant Williams, the two-time SEC player of the year, was held to 13. Jordan Bone had 11 and Jordan Bowden scored 10.
Tennessee struggled to bounce back after an emotional victory over No. 4 Kentucky in the semifinals. Coach Rick Barnes said he told his assistants the Vols looked a little drained at the start.
"We just came out with no energy," Williams said. "We came out like we expected things to happen. It's hard to bounce back from that, especially how Auburn plays, how explosive they can be, especially when they start making shots."
In other tournament finals Sunday, Matt McQuaid scored a career-high 27 points, Cassius Winston converted the go-ahead layup in the closing minute, and No. 6 Michigan State rallied to beat No. 10 Michigan 65-60 for its sixth Big Ten Tournament championship. The top-seeded Spartans (28-6) rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half and scored the game's final 10 points to capture their first championship since 2016. ... Jarron Cumberland had 33 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 24 Cincinnati past No. 11 Houston 69-57 for the championship of the American Athletic Conference. It was the second straight conference tournament title for the Bearcats (28-6), who defeated Houston in last year's final. The victory puts Cincinnati into the NCAA Tournament for the ninth consecutive year. ... Saint Louis rallied from 15-point, first-half deficit, locking down St. Bonaventure in the second half for a 55-53 victory in the Atlantic 10 championship and an NCAA Tournament bid. The sixth-seeded Billikens (23-12) won four games in four days to earn their first A-10 Tournament title since 2013 and get back in the NCAAs for the first time since 2014. ... Malik Benlevi hit four three-pointers and finished with 16 points, and Georgia State advanced to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament with a 73-64 victory over Texas-Arlington in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final. Damon Wilson scored 13, Kane Williams 12, and Jeff Thomas 11 for the top-seeded Panthers (24-9), who will be making their fifth overall NCAA Tournament appearance. ... Alex Copeland scored a season-high 25 points and Yale beat archrival Harvard 97-85 for the Ivy League title and its second NCAA Tournament trip in four seasons. Yale (22-7), which lost to Harvard (18-11) twice in the regular season, used a 15-0 burst in the second half to take control on its home court.
Sports on 03/18/2019