Jordan Horston, who injured her elbow earlier this season, is looking to return to the lineup for the Lady Vols during the NCAA Tournament.
-- Photo By Jerry Denham |The LedgerCandace Parker saw the NCAA men’s tournament brackets released Sunday and immediately went to social media to provide her analysis.
It came only a few hours after Tennessee captured the SEC tournament title for the first time since 1979 with a victory over Texas A&M.
“How do you win your conf tourney, tie for second in reg season, have a 3-1 record vs Auburn and Kentucky and still get a 3 seed? Haters in the building #BleedOrange.”
Many around the country had the same reaction as the former Lady Vols All-American.
If there was one near consensus about the annual bracket snubs this year, it was the Vols getting a No. 3 seed when they had the credentials for at least a No. 2.
Tennessee (26-7) plays No. 14 Longwood (26-6) in the first round of the South Region Thursday in Indianapolis. The winner plays either No. 6 Colorado State or No. 11 Michigan in the second round.
Arizona, a team the Vols beat 77-73 at home in December, is the No. 1 seed in the South Region. Villanova, which defeated UT 71-53 in November, is the No. 2 seed.
Although UT coach Rick Barnes would have preferred to focus on the road ahead, he wondered why the conference tournament results seemed to mean so little in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee. Texas A&M didn’t receive an at-large bid.
“From a coach’s standpoint, this is what we have and we’re going to go from here. But on a national level and for our game, maybe a press conference where tough questions have to be answered helps people going forward,” Barnes asks. “If it’s scheduling people are doing, they can take care of that themselves. Like I said, it is what it is. We’ve got to go play basketball, and I’m proud of our guys for their effort that they’ve put in all year long and to have the chance to be a part of this is what we work for.”
While the Vols can try to use the No. 3 seed as motivation, their focus needs to turn to their opponent to ensure they keep advancing.
Previous tournaments have shown that it’s often the path through the bracket rather than any particular seed that matters. Upsets of other teams could change the outlook of an entire region by the second weekend.
The Vols have won 12 of their last 13 games, and have been receiving contributions from throughout the lineup.
“I would say we’re definitely playing some of our best basketball right now, and we’re really meshing and playing well together,” UT graduate senior John Fulkerson explains.
“As far as us getting better, I would say, first of all, credit to our coaches for pushing us. That’s what Coach Barnes says a lot, is just getting better, getting better, getting better. I think that kind of goes to us as players and listening to what they say, but also just buying in.
“Everyone buying into their role, having each others backs and knowing what all we can accomplish if we play together and try to get better every day.”
“This group will someday be brought back here, I won’t be here, but they’ll be brought back and be honored for many, many years to come and that’s something that they will be remembered (for)," coach Rick Barnes says. "They will be conference champions forever.”
Barnes was happy to see the Vols rewarded for their hard work by getting the chance to lift the SEC tournament championship trophy for the first time in 43 years.
“I love the way those guys celebrated because they deserve it,’’ Barnes points out. “A lot of emotion came out there because this year we weren’t perfect. We had ups and downs within our program that we had to deal with, but when you see it coming together and the effort that these guys put in it and the respect that they really do have for each other.
“This group will someday be brought back here, I won’t be here, but they’ll be brought back and be honored for many, many years to come and that’s something that they will be remembered (for). They will be conference champions forever.”
The Vols still have bigger goals in mind and bigger titles to chase, no matter what seed they were given or what path they need to travel in the NCAA tournament.
“Every game is going to be a hard game,” Barnes adds. “The scouting report and all three games this past weekend (at the SEC tournament) were different. Our guys have learned how to adapt to that quickly.”
Lady Vols selected to host: The Lady Vols (23-8) are a No. 4 seed in the Wichita Region of the NCAA women’s tournament and will host the first and second round at Thompson-Boling Arena.
UT plays No. 13 Buffalo (25-8) in the first round Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. No. 5 Oregon (20-11) and No. 12 Belmont (22-7) will square off in the other first-round game Saturday at 4:30 p.m. CDT.
The winners of the first-round games will play Monday in the second round.
The top three seeds in the Wichita Region are No. 1 Louisville, No. 2 Baylor and No. 3 Michigan.
“Excited to have a little bit more direction and we’re really looking forward to the preparation for the week and getting ready to play Buffalo here in Knoxville,” Tennessee coach Kellie Harper says. “We’re super excited to be hosting. We’ve enjoyed the (Selection Sunday) evening with our players and are just ready to get started.”
The Lady Vols are the only women’s program in the country to participate in all 40 NCAA tournaments. UT hasn’t advanced beyond the second round since the 2015-16 season.
The Lady Vols and Buffalo will be meeting for the first time. Buffalo, the Mid-American Conference tournament champion, is making its fourth NCAA appearance in the last six years. The Bulls have won games in each of their last two appearances.
Buffalo features one of the top mid-major guards in the country in Dyaisha Fair, who is averaging 23.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
Harper notes guard Jordan Horston, UT’s leading scorer (16.2 ppg), could return depending on how deep of a run the Lady Vols make in the tournament. Horston suffered a fractured dislocation of her elbow against Alabama on Feb. 17, and missed UT’s final five games.
Given all the adversity the Lady Vols have already endured this season with injuries and lineup changes, they feel prepared to deal with whatever is thrown at them.
“I think our players know that when we were playing well, we were playing with toughness,” Harper says. “We really reiterated that toughness with wins in March. Hopefully we have those positive experiences to draw from and then also maybe some negative experiences to try to go away from as well.”