Atlanta, GA -- (Sports Network) - Chris Lofton drilled a three-pointer with 11.4 seconds to play to lift fourth-ranked Tennessee to an 89-87 victory over South Carolina in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament at the Georgia Dome.

The lead seesawed back and forth in the final minute and South Carolina grabbed an 87-86 edge on a tough layup by Dominique Archie with 20.8 seconds remaining. Lofton, though, had the answer with a shot from well above the top of the key to put Tennessee back in front.

South Carolina still had time, but Devan Downey misfired on a three-pointer from the right wing and the loose ball went out of bounds off Tennessee with one second remaining. The Gamecocks tried to inbound the ball inside and could not get a shot as time expired.

Lofton finished with just 10 points and had a miserable game from the field. He made only 4-of-12 shots, including 2-of-10 from three-point range. Wayne Chism led Tennessee with 23 points and JaJuan Smith added 19.

The Volunteers (29-3), who captured the SEC regular-season title, have won four in a row and will next meet Arkansas in Saturday's semifinals.

Downey scored 26 points, dished out five assists and recorded five steals for South Carolina (14-18), which beat LSU in Thursday's opening round and played for the last time under head coach Dave Odom, who announced his retirement in January.

"I could be happier if we had won, but I couldn't be prouder," Odom said. "It was a very proud moment for me, for our staff, for our university, and for our team."

Zam Fredrick added 24 points and Mike Holmes contributed 15 with 11 rebounds in defeat.

The Gamecocks were drubbed by Tennessee in two meetings during the regular season, losing by 24 on January 12 at home before suffering an 89-56 defeat just five days ago in Knoxville. They nearly pulled off a major upset on Friday that would have ended Tennessee's hopes for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

"Don't be too hard on the Vols. We shot (56.5) percent. We had 35 field goals...We played awful unselfishly," Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl said. "We were unable to guard their guards off the bounce, and obviously we're pounding it inside."

Tennessee scored the first nine points of the game and led 12-2 just 4 1/2 minutes into the contest. The lead reached 11, 19-8, on a free throw by J.P. Prince with 12:43 to play in the opening half, but South Carolina roared back.

Consecutive three-pointers by Fredrick quickly trimmed the deficit to five and a Downey layup with just under seven minutes left pulled the Gamecocks within 28-26. The Vols restored control and led by eight a few moments later, but again South Carolina came back and took a 40-39 edge on a pair of Fredrick free throws with 54 seconds remaining.

A Chism tip-in a few moments later sent Tennessee into the break with a 41-40 lead.

The second half was tight throughout. South Carolina held a 55-51 lead with 13 1/2 minutes remaining before Tennessee opened a 68-62 advantage about four minutes later on a Smith three-pointer.

Tyler Smith's layup with just over three minutes to play gave the Vols an 84-79 edge, but the Gamecocks answered with six straight points to set up the final-minute dramatics.

Game Notes:

Tyler Smith scored 13 for the Vols, all in the second half...Archie had 11 for South Carolina...Tennessee snapped a three-game SEC Tournament losing streak, winning for the first time since the opening round in 2005. The Vols will play in the tournament semifinals for the first time since reaching the championship game in 1991. They haven't won the SEC tourney crown since 1979...Odom spent seven years at South Carolina and posted a record of 128-104 with just one NCAA Tournament appearance.