NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Orange and blue confetti rained from above in Bridgestone Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Florida defeated Tennessee basketball for the SEC Championship title, signifying the end to a grueling tournament.
As tournament settings go, it meant most teams in the field played multiple games in multiple days. In Tennessee’s case, it played three across the span of three days — falling as the SEC’s runner-up.
Against Florida, the Vols failed to match the physicality that the Gators brought to the table. Florida utilizes a strong four-man rotation in the front-court that Tennessee could not counter. Alex Condon caused fits with 13 points and nine rebounds in the middle, while Thomas Haugh produced an efficient 11-point, 6-rebound outing off the bench. His five offensive boards were the backstabbers for Tennessee.
Despite the disappointing outing, the players are still not making excuses.
“It is what it is,” forward Igor Milicic Jr. told The Daily Beacon. “They were in the same spot. So it’s not an excuse that we’re tired. They’re tired as well.”
Chaz Lanier agreed. Florida entered the game in the same boat. The Gators posted wins over Missouri and Alabama en route to the championship game. By the time Sunday came around, they proved to be the more physical team — despite holding the same level of tire.
“It was definitely kind of difficult,” Lanier said. But, I mean, we’re all tired. Florida was tired. We’re tired. So I mean, that’s out the window. It really doesn’t matter when we step on the floor. Our training staff does a great job. Our strength coaches do a great job at giving us treatment and getting our therapy.”
Just a day prior, Tennessee escaped a dogfight with Auburn. Two of the most physical teams in the country, the Vols squeezed by to come out on top.
It was another game that taxed the body.
“I think it wears on you just knowing how physical those teams are,” Jahmai Mashack said. “We’ve played probably two of the best teams in the country back-to-back so it is pretty tough, it’s pretty hard, especially when they’re known to have really good bigs, so yeah I think it takes a toll on you for sure but I think we’ll be able to recover fast.”
Tournament action is nothing new for this team, however. Tennessee has some experience in playing back-to-back days this season when it took to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Championship. In that field, the Vols came away with wins over Virginia and Baylor to claim the championship title.
Tennessee played one more 40-minute game this time around.
“We prepare ourselves for this moment, for not even months, but a year,” Zakai Zeigler said. “If we wanted to just sit at home, we would have lost our first day. So we were saying before the game, we asked to be in this situation. We wanted to be in the championship game. We wanted to win a championship game. It didn’t come out like that, but we wanted to be in this moment.”
Over the course of the three games, Zeigler totaled 101 minutes on the court. Regardless, winning is what Zeigler wanted most.
“Our bodies were prepared,” Zeigler said. “ We could do some things to get recovered. We’re gonna get a day off. We might take some rest, but we prepared ourselves to come down here and play three games — not play one game or not play two games — but to play three games and win three games. So I wouldn’t say it’s too taxing on the body.”
Though college strength programs train to handle a season in the SEC, the players related the experience back to their high school roots. AAU circuits mean players are playing multiple games a day, which can provide that experience to guys at a younger age of what it takes to keep the body in shape.
“It’s a little taxing,” Mashack said. “But we played AAU when I was little. Growing up, we played two, three games a day, so obviously this is still hard because there’s a bigger stage, but I think it’s something that we’re ready for, and our bodies will be to adjust.”
As for Cade Phillips, he doesn’t care how taxing it is on the body — he just wants to play basketball.
“I love the sport of basketball, and so I’ve really enjoyed it,” Phillips said. “Grew up playing AAU, so this is the stuff that I love. I love playing this game. And I think I have a little bit more of a child look at it of just loving to play every day but yeah it’s going to be a little taxing and we need to take care of the body the next 24 hours.”
Tennessee will be no stranger to short rest the next time on the court. The Vols will handle a quick turnaround from the SEC Tournament with a short rest week before heading to Lexington, Kentucky, for the opening game of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 20.
