TAMPA, Fla. -- Santiago Vescovi scored 17 points and Josiah-Jordan James had 16 points and 10 rebounds to help ninth-ranked Tennessee beat Texas A&M 65-50 on Sunday to claim its first men's SEC basketball tournament title in 43 years.
The second-seeded Volunteers (26-7) never trailed, rattling off the first 14 points of the afternoon and winning for the 12th time in 13 games following a one-point loss at Texas in late January.
Auburn and Kentucky entered the SEC tournament ranked in the top five and Arkansas was as hot as any team in the country down the stretch, but Tennessee has emerged as the top team in the league after beating each of those other rivals in the past two weeks.