NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On a normal day, Tennessee is a difficult team to beat. With its size, athleticism and arsenal of offensive weapons, knocking off the Volunteers takes a superb performance. Sunday was no normal day.Entering a matchup with Pat Summitt’s team in the finals of the SEC Tournament, Matthew Mitchell was confident his team would come out and give everything it had. In doing so, UK might just put itself in a position to win the Southeastern Conference Tournament. But the way Tennessee played, guarded and, most of all, shot the ball Sunday night in the SEC Tournament finals, there was no way the Lady Volunteers were going down. As much as coaches focus internally on their teams, there are some things you just can’t control.”I just can’t imagine that when they’re shooting like they did tonight that they’re not the best team in the country,” Mitchell said.To say UT shot the ball well is an understatement. In a 90-65 victory, Tennessee poured in 16 3-pointers on just 21 attempts, setting a school and tournament record for shots made from beyond the arc. Angie Bjorklund drilled 7-of-8 treys and Shekinna Stricklen dropped another five 3-pointers. It was the second straight year Tennessee defeated Kentucky in the SEC Tournament finals and the most points a UK team has given up since 2007.On some nights, it’s just not meant to be.Initially, it looked to be a highly competitive game. UK’s pressure forced 14 first-half turnovers and the Wildcats found themselves down only 30-29 with less than three minutes to go before halftime. A 9-1 run, started by a 3-pointer (of course), sent Tennessee into the half up 39-30.Kentucky limited the Vols to just 4-of-19 first-half shooting from inside the arc, but the UK press allowed a number of open 3-point looks when it failed to force a turnover. For that, Mitchell took first responsibility.”We didn’t place a real big emphasis on (transition 3s),” Mitchell said. “That’s maybe where I should have done better as a coach. By the time we started trying to make that adjustment, I don’t think our kids were really in tune with that. I just feel badly I didn’t prepare them for that particular part of Tennessee’s game.”As the 3-point buckets piled up, gaps in UK’s interior defense began to open and the lead became 15, then 20, then 25. At that point the Wildcats were helpless even with 15 points from freshman Bernisha Pinkett.Focusing on playing Kentucky basketball rather than what any opponent is doing has been a recurring theme this week for Mitchell and the team, but the way the Volunteers played made that nearly impossible.”I think for us, we mentally weren’t in it, focused as a team in the end,” said senior forward Victoria Dunlap, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. “We were thinking about what they were doing. We were worried about what they were doing instead of what Kentucky needed to do.”For the Wildcats to repeat or improve upon their run to the Elite Eight in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, UK will need to get back to playing its game, which should be an easier task against teams that don’t wear Tennessee orange. Dunlap is just happy they will get the chance.”The good thing about that is we still have a lot of basketball to play in the NCAA Tournament,” Dunlap said. “We’re just going to get ready for that.”Although Mitchell feels the same way, he’s not quite ready to turn the page on this defeat.”I told the team back in the locker room I was very disappointed in this game today,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t want them to think anything but that. I’m very disappointed that we didn’t play better, that we didn’t compete better.”Mitchell will teach from this loss because he’s seen his team respond under similar circumstances before.”We’ve had some very deflating losses this year and each time this team has been able to bounce back,” Mitchell said. “This is another chance for us to bounce back and show the great character these kids have. I believe in them. We played a really, really fine Tennessee team today that played really well. There are probably a lot of teams that would have had the outcome that we fell to today.”Life is tough. The SEC is a lot like life: It will knock you back on your tail sometimes. You just have to battle through.”Having been knocked on their tails, as Mitchell said, the time off that the Wildcats will get before heading to the NCAA Tournament is a welcome respite. Point guard A’dia Mathies, dealing with a lower back contusion, managed to play just 15 minutes while other Wildcats sustained bumps and bruises in a very physical SEC Tournament.”I think (the time off) is good,” Mitchell said. “I think the time off will really benefit Victoria and A’dia, who had really good seasons in the SEC.”The time off should also eventually allow the Wildcats to look back on this SEC Tournament and realize that making the final was an achievement in and of itself in spite of the disappointing end.”To get to (the championship game), they put a lot of hard work in,” Mitchell said. “I’m just really proud that our players got to today.”