Tami Chappell / Reuters

Tennessee guard Chris Lofton shoots over Winthrop's Torrell Martin. Lofton's shot gave the Vols a 63-61 win on Thursday.

Perhaps all those who questioned Tennessee’s No. 2 seed were right — after all, the Volunteers limped into the tournament with four losses in its previous six games. Pearl pointed to a fabulous regular season that ended with a Southeastern Conference East Division title, as well as a sweep of the season series with Florida.

It’s unlikely winning in this fashion will quiet any of those critics.

“We deserved victory,” Pearl said. “It wasn’t like we had to get hit in the mouth to start playing. We were ready to play, and we had to play well.”

Of course, none of that really matters to Marshall and Winthrop. They won the Big South Conference tournament for the sixth time in eight seasons and have little to show for it. Last year, a 10-point loss to Gonzaga ended their season, and now this.

Shuler swished a 3-pointer with about 3½ minutes remaining to give the Eagles their final lead at 61-60, and Bradshaw tied it with a free throw on the other end. The South Carolina school had turnovers on two straight possessions and Lofton missed an ill-advised jumper from way beyond the line for the Vols.

Finally, Craig Bradshaw got a good look to put the Eagles back in front, but his 3-pointer was off, setting up the final sequence.

“I’ve been to postseason play a lot of times, and you’re supposed to have something to say, something intelligent and uplifting to say in the locker room,” Marshall said. “It doesn’t get any easier, I can tell you that.”

Patterson had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee, and Bradshaw scored 12 on 5-of-17 shooting for Winthrop.

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