No. 20 Arkansas 80, Tennessee 72: Bobby Portis had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and the second-seeded Razorbacks repelled a second-half rally from the Volunteers to notch an SEC tournament quarterfinal win in Nashville, Tenn.

Michael Qualls added 20 points for Arkansas (25-7), which never trailed and snapped a seven-game SEC tournament losing streak and advanced to face third-seeded Georgia in Saturday’s semifinals. The Razorbacks, who also received 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots from Alandise Harris, finished 32-of-39 at the free-throw line to overcome a 43-35 rebound disadvantage, including 20-10 on the offensive glass.

Josh Richardson scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and added 10 rebounds to pace 10th-seeded Tennessee (16-16), which was coming off an emotional 67-61 comeback win over Vanderbilt on Thursday. Kevin Punter added 13 points while Robert Hubbs III had eight for the Volunteers, who shot 32.8 percent from the field and had 13 turnovers.

Arkansas took a 20-point lead into the second half and led 55-35 with 16:43 remaining, when Richardson and Tennessee got rolling and embarked on a 15-4 spree to pull within nine with 9:57 left. Two minutes later, the Razorbacks’ advantage was back up to 65-51, but the Volunteers reeled off a 16-6 run to cut their deficit to four with 2:44 to play before Arkansas closed out the win by hitting 9-of-12 free throws down the stretch.

Portis poured in 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first half as the Razorbacks scored the game’s first 13 points en route to the 45-25 halftime edge. Tennessee, meanwhile, hit only 4-of-25 shots from the field and committed seven turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, getting the majority of its points at the free-throw line, where it was 15-of-17.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Arkansas became the fourth higher seed to win in the first nine games of an upset-filled SEC tournament. … Tennessee finished 25-of-34 at the free-throw stripe as the teams combined to go 57-of-73 from the line. … Arkansas G Anton Beard limped off the court and into the locker room late in the first half but returned to play before intermission and finished with five points and five assists before fouling out.