Auburn basketball’s second-half push was not enough as the Tigers fell to Tennessee 77-69 on Saturday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
After a first-half shooting rut left Auburn facing a 10-point deficit at the break, the Tigers trimmed the Volunteers’ lead to three with eight minutes remaining but never fully closed the gap, as Tennessee inserted its dominance and physicality on the glass.
“Credit to Tennessee. They beat us at our own game,” said Auburn head Coach Steven Pearl. “They got to the foul line 11 more times than we did, and they did a really good job of attacking the paint. They hit four early threes, and they didn’t continue to settle for threes like we did. They out-physicaled us and had their way.”
Keyshawn Hall recorded his 13th 20-point outing of the year with 16 of his 21 coming in the second half. Tennessee countered with four in double figures, led by Nate Ament, who scored 12 of his 22 at the charity stripe.
The Volunteers (15-6, 5-3 SEC) controlled the glass, outrebounding Auburn 46-30, including 17 offensive rebounds. Tennessee entered the matchup with a 44.7 offensive rebounding percentage, which, according to KenPom, is the highest rate in the nation.
Tennessee shot out to an early 13-3 lead at the under-16 break behind a trio of threes on a 5-of-7 clip from the field.
Auburn cut it to within four by making its next four attempts from the floor, but went on a three-minute scoring drought as Tennessee used a 9-0 burst to extend its lead to 16.
The Tigers closed the first half on a 10-4 run, highlighted by Kevin Overton’s 4-point play with three seconds left, trimming the lead to 41-31 at the break.
Despite multiple pushes that brought the Tigers within striking distance, Tennessee answered every run as Auburn was never able to take control.
Auburn (14-8, 5-4 SEC) is off for a week before returning to Neville Arena to host No. 23 Alabama next Saturday. Tipoff time is to be announced and will air on ESPN. TG
