NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Duke Miles scored a season-high 30 points as No. 22 Vanderbilt beat 25th-ranked Tennessee 75-68 Friday to advance to the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals.
The fourth-seeded Commodores (25-7) came in with its highest seeding since winning the 2012 SEC Tournament. They will play regular-season SEC champ Florida, a 71-63 winner over Kentucky, on Saturday.
Tyler Tanner added 19 points for the Commodores, who won their
third straight.
No. 25 Tennessee (22-11) lost to Vanderbilt for the second time in a week and leaves well short of the tournament title game where the Vols lost to Florida last year.
Ja'Kobi Gillespie led Tennessee with 21 points. Nate Ament, who had 27 points in the second round, missed his first eight shots. He finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. J.P. Estrella added 12 points and Jaylen Carey 10.
Gillespie hit back-to-back 3s to put Tennessee up 45-38 with 14:51 left. Vanderbilt answered with 10 straight points and never trailed again. Miles started the spurt, knocking down two free throws, and finished it with a 3.
Vanderbilt led by as much as eight. Ament kept the Vols close, but the Commodores hit their final eight free throws to clinch the victory. They made 16 of 18 at the line in the second half and shot 84.6% (22 of 26) for the game.
These teams split winning on each other’s home court with Vanderbilt closing out the regular season beating Tennessee last week. The Commodores had extra cheerleaders with Vanderbilt’s sixth-ranked women on the front row.
Tennessee didn't help its NCAA Tournament seeding. The Vols have lost four of their last six.
Vanderbilt has a chance at payback for a 98-94 loss Jan. 17 on its own court to Florida.
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