Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. ó Jarvis Varnado scored 19 points and Barry Stewart added 17 Saturday to lead surging Mississippi State into the championship game of the SEC tournament with a 67-57 upset of No. 20 LSU.
The Bulldogs (22-12) began the week needing to win two or three times to improve their chances of getting a spot in the NCAA tournament. Now, they’re in a position to claim the SEC’s automatic berth with their first conference tourney title since 2002.
LSU (26-7) beat Mississippi State twice during the regular season, but were not match this time with SEC Player of the Year Marcus Thornton scoring 14 on 5-for-19 shooting.
The victory was the fifth straight for Mississippi State. LSU has lost three of four since clinching the SEC regular-season title.
Tennessee 94, Auburn 85
Wayne Chism scored a career-high 27 points, Tyler Smith added 23 and Tennessee beat Auburn 94-85 Saturday to advance to its first Southeastern Conference championship game in 18 years.
The Volunteers (21-11) will play surging Mississippi State in the final. The Bulldogs are 7-1 against teams from the conference’s Eastern Division, with the one loss coming at Tennessee in late February.
The Vols can only hope to play as well as they did against Auburn, especially in the first half.
Tennessee shot 62 percent from the field and 58 percent from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes and opened up a 14-point lead. The Tigers (22-11) cut it to 55-50 early in the second half, but the Vols pulled away down the stretch with dunks and free throws.
Korvotney Barber led Auburn with 24 points and nine rebounds. Rasheem Barrett added 18, and Tay Waller chipped in 17.