NASHVILLE, Tenn. —Tennessee's stay in Nashville was a quick one.

After falling behind because of abysmal shooting in the first half, the SEC regular season champion and 1-seed Vols was forced to play from behind for 40 minutes against 9-seed Mississippi State, bowing out of the SEC Tournament quarterfinal in a 73-56 loss at Bridgestone Arena on Friday.

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Zakai Zeigler led Tennessee (25-7) with 20 points while Dalton Knecht scored 14 and Jahmai Mashack finished with 12. The rest of the Vols' lineup combined for 12 points.

For Mississippi State, Cameron Matthews and Josh Hubbard each scored 18.

For the second-straight game, Tennessee was plagued by a slow start.

The Vols couldn't get shots to fall on the offensive end, then had trouble controlling the ball as Mississippi State upped its lead to 15-4 after back-to-back Tennessee turnovers nearly eight minutes into the first half.

Tennessee went more than six minutes without a field goal before Vescovi ended the drought with a layup and Gainey laced a 3-pointer to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 17-11.

A Davis drive and score again put Mississippi State up double digits but Knecht answered back with a corner three to get back within eight but the Bulldogs rattled off another run, taking advantage of Tennessee's persistent shooting woes.

Matthews headlined an 8-0 scoring stretch with one-handed dunk that he was fouled on--Mississippi State's fourth and-1 of the half--to lead 34-18 with two minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the half.

Tennessee went the last five minutes, 44 seconds of the half without a field goal and Mississippi State closed it out on a 12-1 run, capped by a Shawn Jones Jr. put-back dunk at the buzzer to put the Bulldogs ahead 38-19 at the intermission.

Knecht opened the second half with a three to kickstart a 9-2 run four minutes in to trim Mississippi State's lead to 40-28. Hubbard responded with a deep 3-pointer from between the logo and the top of the key and a goal-tend on Tobe Awaka and a couple free throws stretched the Bulldogs' lead to 21 with 13 minutes to go.

Tennessee found a little life offensively after Mashack hit two-straight jumpers and Zeigler drained consecutive 3-pointers that cut its deficit to 60-48 with less than six minutes remaining.

As it had done all afternoon, Mississippi State had another timely response, working the inside and scoring off of a Tennessee turnover in back-to-back possessions to push its lead to 65-48. The Vols were unable to make a dent from that point.

Tennessee faced multiple second half deficits on its way to winning the SEC regular season title. What got the Vols there was their ability to overcome stretches of stagnant offense with perimeter shooting late.

That escaped Tennessee against Mississippi State. The Vols started slow offensively and it stayed that way for the most part, never establishing the kind of rhythm that pulled them out of slumps before.

Tennessee shot just over 23% from three-point range in the first half and 30.6% for the game. Its usual heroes, like Knecht was held to 2-of-9 from deep and 9 points in the second half.

Tennessee will now await its NCAA Tournament seeding fate.

The Vols entered the SEC Tournament in competition with North Carolina and Arizona for the fourth 1-seed, which would be the program's first, though its loss to Mississippi State may effect their standing.

Tennessee will have to wait until the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday (6 p.m. ET, CBS) to find out.

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