NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee finished much closer to the bottom than the top of the SEC this season, but the Vols have had their moments.

Tennessee senior forward Derek Reese

Three of the top four seeds in this season’s SEC Tournament — Kentucky, South Carolina and LSU — left Knoxville with a loss, and the other (Texas A&M) needed a furious run in the final minutes to avoid the same fate.

But then there’s Vanderbilt.

The tall, tactically-sharp, veteran-laden Commodores (19-11) hardly broke a sweat while sweeping the Vols (14-18) in the regular season. Vanderbilt left Knoxville with an 88-74 win over the Vols on Jan. 20 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated, and they held serve at home against their in-state rivals in an 86-69 win in Nashville on March 1.

Round Three comes today in Bridgestone Arena, where the 12th-seeded Vols and 5th-seeded Commodores are scheduled to tip at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern on SEC Network.

Tennessee got back its confidence in a 97-59 win over Auburn in the tournament’s Wednesday night opener, but senior wing Armani Moore and the rest of the Vols know the Commodores will present a much tougher matchup.

“We’re definitely gonna be assertive,” Moore said moments after the win over Auburn. “We’re definitely gonna go out there and fight, just like we did tonight. They kind of had our number throughout the season, but we can’t be thinking about that. We’ve just got to think about what matters now, and that’s going out and executing.”

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First-year Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, as usual, was frank in his assessment. He said the Vols need to play “a lot” better than they did their first two times this season against the Commodores to give themselves a chance.

Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes

“Well, we were terrible at our place. You know, they had their way. They played a terrific game,” Barnes said. “There (in Nashville), again, we had chances. We were there. Then we turned it over. I think we had it down to maybe nine, and then we turned it over three out of four possessions or four out of five possessions, and they scored off, I think, every one of those possessions and blew the game open. And all those turnovers were unforced turnovers, where we just simply gave them the ball. And they don't need any help.

“I mean, they're capable of shooting the ball well from the perimeter. They obviously can go inside with it.

“So, again, the third go ‘round, we'll see if we can do better.”

The undersized Vols have struggled all season to matchup with Vanderbilt, which has a future NBA point guard (Wade Baldwin IV) pulling the strings on an offense that has dangerous athletes and shooters on the wings and three 7-footers in the paint.

Senior Derek Reese — who, at 6-foot-7, was Tennessee’s tallest starter Wednesday night —Â didn’t deny that Vandy has been a tough cover for the Vols.

“They’re huge. They’ve got some big ol’ guys,” Reese said. “They’re a great team, and a great shooting team. It’s gonna be a grind. … Them 7-footers, they’re tough to guard, man. They have really good shooters, and they can spread you out and shoot it. They also have a great overall IQ as a team.

“I think they’re a very good team, and they’re a hard team to play against. They do what they do, and they do it really well.”

Moore said Tennessee didn’t play anywhere close to its best basketball this season against Vandy, but he credited the Commodores for much of that.

Tennessee senior wing Armani Moore

“They’re a great defensive team, and they’ve got rim protectors down low,” Moore said. “They also just know how to play their basketball. They’re not gonna let nobody speed them up. They know how to execute, and they do a great job competing.

“We’re gonna have to compete harder than they do.”

Senior guard Devon Baulkman said the Vols will need to do something they didn’t do either time this season against the Commodores.

In other words, Baulkman said Tennessee needs to focus.

“We just haven’t gone out there and done what the coaches have told us to do,” Baulkman said. “That’s basically it. It’s the scouting report. The coaches give us a great plan. We just have to follow it.”

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Contact Wes Rucker by email at wesrucker247@gmail.com, or ON TWITTER or ON FACEBOOK