Tennessee, the SEC's most erratic team this season, looked the part in the SEC tournament Thursday night at the Georgia Dome.
Seemingly coasting to an easy victory over Arkansas, leading by 16 points with just over seven minutes to play, Tennessee gave up the entire lead on a wildly improbable 16-0 Razorbacks run that tied the game at 68-68 with two minutes remaining.
Then the Vols steadied themselves in the final two minutes to pull out a 74-68 victory.
The win moves the Vols (19-13 overall) into a second-round game Friday night against SEC regular-season champion Florida (24-6). The Gators had a first-round bye.
Tennessee went 0-2 vs. Florida during the regular season, losing 81-75 in Knoxville on Jan. 11 and 61-60 in Gainesville on Feb. 12.
Tennessee led Arkansas 37-25 at halftime Thursday night, and the game was devoid of suspense until the closing minutes. But Tennessee's 16-point lead was wiped out over a five-minute stretch, with two free throws by Arkansas' Rotnei Clarke tying the score at 68.
Tennessee finally broke its drought on a Brian Williams basket underneath to regain the lead at 70-68. The Vols held the Razorbacks scoreless the rest of the way and clinched the victory with four free throws.
Freshman Tobias Harris led Tennessee with 20 points, 16 of them in the first half, while Melvin Goins added 12. Clarke led Arkansas with 18, 13 of them in the second half, and Delvon Johnson scored 15.
Arkansas made eight of 25 shots from 3-point range, while Tennessee made only two of 15.
Tennessee finished fifth in the SEC East during the regular season with an 8-8 league record. But as the Vols entered the SEC tournament, they were believed to be in pretty good shape on the NCAA bubble because of a relatively high RPI (36) and eight victories over top-50 opponents. Thursday's victory, however erratic, probably secured the Vols' position on the right side of the bubble.
Arkansas, the SEC West's No. 4 seed, dropped to 18-13 with Thursday's loss.
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