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Tennesee begins quest for SEC tournament title vs. South Carolina

Mar 14, 2008 - 1:54 PM South Carolina (13-17) at No. 4 Tennessee (28-3) 1:00 pm EDT

ATLANTA (Ticker) - After winning its first outright regular season Southeastern Conference championship since 1967, No. 4 Tennessee now has its sights set on ending another long title drought.

Tennessee begins its quest for its first SEC tournament title in nearly 30 years when it takes on South Carolina in a quarterfinal matchup on Friday.

The Volunteers set a single-season school record with 28 wins this campaign and finished first in the SEC Eastern Division for the second time in three seasons. Tennessee is now hoping to claim its first SEC tournament title since 1979 and improve its argument for a No. 1 seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee will face South Carolina for the second time in less then a week on Friday after wrapping up its regular season with a 89-56 rout against the Gamecocks on Sunday.

Chris Lofton made six 3-pointers en route to a season-high 28 points to lead the Volunteers, who won for the 32nd straight time at home.

Despite its lowly record, South Carolina forged a 77-73 victory over Louisiana State in the opening round of the SEC tournament on Thursday. Evaldas Baniulis and freshman Mike Holmes each scored 16 points for the Gamecocks, who won for just the third time in their last 10 games.