It seemed that everyone around the Tennessee basketball was concerned about the Vols' motivation heading into Wednesday night's NIT opener against Mercer. On the heels of Mercer's 75-67 win over a sluggish Tennessee squad, it seems those concerns were well founded.

That view shouldn't detract from Mercer's performance. The Bears were clearly the better team on this night, executing at a high level on both ends of the floor while Tennessee struggled to sustain anything positive on either end.

Mercer took control of the game with a clinically efficient offensive performance. The visitors backdoor cut the Vols to death, getting a boat load of lay-ups on their way to shooting 54% in the first 20 minutes and building a 34-28 halftime lead.

The Vols never got closer than four points in the entire second half, and for the second year in a row, exit the NIT as an upset victim to a lower seeded team.

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