This might come as a shock but Rick Barnes says winning the SEC tournament could be more difficult than winning the NCAA championship.

There may not be better teams in the country than Auburn and Florida back-to-back with no day in between to prepare for the final.

Tennessee used old-fashioned grit, more defensive determination and a barrage of free throws to defeat Auburn, 70-65, in the SEC semifinals Saturday in Nashville. The Vols and Gators will face off Sunday afternoon at 1 for first prize. See the show on ESPN. Bridgestone Arena is supposedly sold out.

In theory, the winner should get a No. 1 seed for the NCAA main event – unless the selection committee has already decided and is out to lunch.

Tennessee really wanted this second shot at Auburn. The Vols lost a tough road game by two points in January. They knew they were competitive and thought they could win. Their effort was exemplary.

Tennessee fought a really good fight under and around the goal with Auburn superstar Johni Broome and he still scored 23. Vol center Felix Okpara went scoreless and big reserve Cade Phillips got only four points but they kept Broome from getting 30 or 40 and disrupted his usual passing game.

Okpara beat Broome 9-7 in rebounding. Tennessee won the team backboard battle by eight. Tennessee got the knockout at the foul line. It made 25 of 27 free throws. Auburn attempted only five fewer but missed nine.

Zakai Zeigler led the Vols with 20 points and added four rebounds and four assists. He also blocked a shot – and immediately told the Tigers that he is actually taller than 5-9.

Jordan Gainey scored 15 and had five rebounds, one really big that led to two free throws. Chaz Lanier scored 10 in another hot start, went invisible for too long and finally added a basket with 8:28 remaining. Credit Auburn with a defensive adjustment and greater effort.

Jahmai Mashack scored six points and hit the two free throws with 14 seconds remaining that clinched the victory. Want to talk about toughness? A blow to the face put Shack at the foul line.

Coach Rick Barnes and Jahmai Mashack #15 during the Auburn game in Nashville.

Darlinstone Dubar scored six. Barnes thought two of his drives were very valuable.

This was a tough game, a heavyweight bout, exciting, entertaining, tied eight times with 18 lead changes. Tennessee’s big margin was 64-52. Auburn answered with a 10-0 run. The Vols contributed three untimely turnovers.

The Tigers might have won in the closing seconds but Broome missed two free throws with 29.2 remaining.

Barnes seems to thrive on spirited competition. He said he’s seen teams catch lightning in a bottle this time of year. He said the Vols came to Nashville thinking they could win.

“We got a chance; we can play good basketball. I think a lot of teams had that mindset. We all want to win a championship. Championships set you apart.

“Every year, some championship team is brought back to be recognized. Not so much runner-ups. There’s no doubt that we came here with the idea that we’d like to win a conference championship but knowing it’s going to be really hard.”

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl was generous with praise.

“Tennessee is a great team. They play the right way.”

Asked to explain “right way,” Pearl said “It’s character, it’s culture. It’s their faith. It’s the men that are coaching them, great coaches and great men … When I say they play the right way, there are no issues. There’s no extracurricular. You understand how they play. You respect how they play. They respect how we play. That’s from their head coach.”

Pearl touched on physicality.

“The games are physical because they’re physical on offense, they’re physical setting screens, they’re physical defensively. We have to do a better job on defense.

“The last time we played, they scored 51 points. This time they scored 70. We fouled too much. That’s not a comment about officiating. The officiating was fine. They scored 37 percent of their points at the foul line. That’s on us.

“We didn’t convert some inside shots and some free throws and some things you have to do in order to win a close game.”

Barnes added perspective.

“Zakai was in great command of himself because he’s so competitive. If you could have been in the huddle, hearing him talk to his team, he was a big-time leader today … he had a presence that was outstanding.”

Jordan Gainey #11 drives around Auburn superstar Johni Broome.

“Every timeout we were talking stay the course, calm down, do what we do,” said Gainey. “We made a few mistakes down the stretch, but we all stayed calm, made sure we got to the next play.

“We had two turnovers back-to-back. The way we responded was really good. We didn’t seem fazed. No one was panicking or flustered or anything. It’s okay, we’re good, let’s get a stop and we’ll get back on offense and do what we have to do.”

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com