SEC Tournament 2022: Quarterfinals Scores, Updated Bracket, Semifinal Schedule

Three of the top four seeds in the 2022 SEC tournament booked their tickets to the semifinal round with wins on Friday.

The Arkansas Razorbacks, Tennessee Volunteers and Kentucky Wildcats took down lower-seeded foes, but the Auburn Tigers did not make it out of the quarterfinal round. 

Auburn fell to the eighth-seeded Texas A&M Aggies, who boosted their NCAA men's basketball tournament hopes with their second victory in Tampa. 

Texas A&M can solidify its spot in the field of 68 with a win over Arkansas in Saturday's semifinals, but winning will be a tough task since the Razorbacks are one of the hottest teams in college basketball. 

Kentucky and Tennessee will do battle for the third time this season in the second semifinal inside Amalie Arena. 

The Wildcats and Vols split their home games in the series. Both games featured double-digit victories. 

Quarterfinal Scores

No. 8 Texas A&M 67, No. 1 Auburn 62

No. 4 Arkansas 79, No. 5 LSU 67

No. 2 Tennessee 72, No. 10 Mississippi State 59 

Semifinal Schedule

No. 8 Texas A&M vs. No. 4 Arkansas (1 p.m. ET, ESPN) 

No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 2 Tennessee (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) 

Previews

Texas A&M vs. Arkansas

Texas A&M's first two victories pushed it to the edge of the bubble. 

As of Friday night, the Aggies were the "First Team Out," according to Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller. 

The Aggies were an afterthought in the bubble conversation going into Tampa after they finished the SEC regular-season with a 9-9 record. 

Buzz Williams' side needed a late surge just to get to that point since it was 5-9 in conference play at one point. 

A&M's defense turned a corner recently to allow it to get to the semifinal. The Aggies held three of their last five opponents to 66 points or fewer. One of those other concessions was 71 points to the Alabama Crimson Tide. The other matchup was the overtime win over the Florida Gators on Thursday. 

The Aggies played Arkansas close in both regular-season meetings, so there is hope for them to earn one more win and leap over to the right side of the bubble. 

Earning one more signature victory could be difficult for the Aggies since Arkansas is one of the hottest teams in the country.

The Razorbacks won 15 of their last 17 games. The two losses in that span were by a combined five points to Alabama and Tennessee. 

Arkansas' offense has been consistently strong over the last few games of that stretch. The Hogs scored at least 74 points in the last five games. 

JD Notae, Chris Lykes and Au'Diese Toney powered the Razorbacks in their quarterfinal win over LSU. Each of those players hit the 18-point mark. 

If Arkansas gets the same production from that trio, it will make it hard for Texas A&M to win and solidify its spot in the field of 68. 

Notae scored 48 points in the two meetings with Texas A&M. He also had seven assists in the matchups on January 8 and 22. 

Notae will be the key for Arkansas to win on Saturday, but he'll also be vital for the next few weeks as Arkansas eyes up a deep run in the Big Dance. 

Kentucky vs. Tennessee

Kentucky and Tennessee held serve in their respective home games in the regular-season series. 

The Wildcats blasted the Vols defense inside Rupp Arena by scoring 107 points on January 15. 

Tennessee returned the favor one month later with a 13-point victory inside Thompson-Boling Arena. 

Kentucky has a single loss in the six games since that defeat, and it appears to be one of the top national championship contenders in its current form. 

Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler and Co. are chasing after a No. 1 seed. A spot on the top-seed line became open after Auburn and the Baylor Bears lost over the last 48 hours. 

Tshiebwe needs to be more effective on the offensive interior than he was in the previous two meetings with Tennessee. 

The National Player of the Year candidate only had 22 points to go along with his 27 rebounds against the Vols. 

Tshiebwe produced at least 17 points in five of his last six games, and he was one of four players to reach double figures in the quarterfinal win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. 

Tennessee lost the rebounding battle to the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Friday. That can't happen again if the Vols want to advance to the SEC tournament final. 

Offensively. Tennessee's guard play needs to match the performances of TyTy Washington, Wheeler and the other Kentucky guards.

Four Vols guards were in double figures on Friday. The same production on Saturday could help the Vols land a spot in Sunday's championship game.