St. Louis ? The ball thudding away after J.P. Prince’s desperation heave fell short, several Tennessee players collapsed in front of the bench, pressing their foreheads against the hardwood.

Tennessee’s J.P. Prince reacts to a play against Michigan State. Prince’s Volunteers lost to the Spartans, 70-69, on Sunday in St. Louis.

Scotty Hopson snatched off his opulently orange headband and threw it to the floor in disgust. Coach Bruce Pearl stared blankly for a moment before going to congratulate the victors.

The Vols came up short. One second. One free throw. One step short.

To come this far, to get this close was heartbreaking.

Agonizingly close to its first Final Four, Tennessee left the NCAA Tournament decidedly dejected after losing, 70-69, to Michigan State in the Midwest Regional final on Sunday.

“This is painful, this is disappointing,” Pearl said. “This is not what we came here to do.”

The final margin was Raymar Morgan’s free throw with 1.8 seconds left.

There were so many opportunities.

The sixth-seeded Vols (28-9) couldn’t stop Michigan State’s suddenly-hot-shooting guard Durrell Summers, who hit four three-pointers and scored 21 points. Hopson couldn’t hit a second free throw with 11 seconds left, one that would have put Tennessee up one and the Spartans into a more desperate mode.

Tennessee couldn’t come up with the ball after Hopson’s miss, allowing Michigan State’s whispery 5-foot-11 point guard Korie Lucious to sneak in and grab the rebound. The Vols couldn’t keep Morgan out of the lane, forcing Prince to foul him. And Prince couldn’t get the handle on what could have been the greatest finish in an NCAA Tournament filled with them.

To come this close makes it hurt even more.

“This will sting for a while, most definitely,” said Prince, who had 12 points and five assists in his final game in orange and white.

Tennessee finished the season with the second-most wins in school history — the 2007-08 team had 31 — and reached its fifth straight NCAA Tournament under Pearl, the longest active streak in the SEC.