The Tennessee Volunteers are the champions of the 2022 SEC Tournament. No. 2-seed UT took the first lead of Sunday’s Championship Game and never looked back, defeating No. 8-seed Texas A&M 65-50, ending the Aggies’ impressive SEC Tournament run of 3 wins.

Texas A&M was presumably running on empty, playing its fourth game in as many days, but that shouldn’t take anything away from a solid outing by the Vols. Both teams shot under 50 percent from the floor. Tennessee was much more effective from 3-point territory, hitting 12 3-pointers to Texas A&M’s 4. The Vols also won the rebound battle (41-34) and were more effective in converting opponents’ turnovers into points (18-9).

The Tennessee defense held Texas A&M to a season-low of 50 points. On offense, Rick Barnes will probably be most pleased by Tennessee’s assists stat. The Vols made 22 field goals, recording 19 assists in the process.

Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 4-of-9 from 3-point range and adding 5 free throws. UT’s Josiah-Jordan James (16 points) and Kennedy Chandler (14 points) also reached double figures. John Fulkerson had 12 rebounds but fell short of a double-double with 8 points. Tyrece Radford led Texas A&M with 13 points.

Both teams await their NCAA Tournament seed. The Aggies have been on bubble watch. Buzz Williams’ squad is expected to make the Big Dance with wins over Florida, Auburn and Arkansas in the SEC Tournament.