Coming off arguably its most impressive win of the season at TCU, Auburn returned home, looking to build on the momentum started in Fort Worth. That momentum stopped at tip-off for the Tigers.
Tennessee, coming off three consecutive home victories over Mississippi State, No. 8 Kentucky and Kansas State, jumped on Auburn quickly and never looked back en route to an 87-77 victory inside Auburn Arena Tuesday night. The Volunteers never trailed in the contest.
The Vols led 13-4 just five minutes into the game, and used a 15-0 run midway through the first half to extend its lead to 31-14 in the blink of an eye. Auburn never got closer than nine points the remainder of the game.
“We talked before the game about (how) this was one of the most pivotal games for us this season,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “We did not have good preparation, we did not have good practices of the two games prior, and I think the result was that Tennessee played with greater energy, greater purpose.”
“They started well, they typically start very well, so we knew that coming in and we turned the ball over a lot early. We didn’t get any stops at all in the first half and Tennessee had their way with us, so we knew that it was going to be a big swing. We’re very disappointed.”
Freshman point guard Jared Harper was Auburn’s lone bright spot in the first half, scoring 18 of his game-high 21 points before halftime. Harper knocked down 5-of-7 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half. No other Auburn player had more than five points before the half, as the Tigers trailed 46-30 at the break.
“It’s all on me,” Pearl said about his team’s slow start. “I’m the head coach, I’m responsible. It’s my responsibility to get the kids to play hard.”
Auburn came out of the break looking to cut into the Tennessee lead, but the Vols had other ideas. Tennessee used an 8-2 run to extend its lead to 22 points, its biggest lead of the game just 2:15 into the second half. The Volunteers cruised to the finish line, knocking down 16 of its 21 attempts from the free-throw line to keep the Tigers at bay.
“They just did a good job running their offense,” Harper said. “They beat us to a lot of 50/50 balls, they out-rebounded us and that is just something we have to fix on our end, that’s something we can control.”
“Tennessee and South Carolina are the two hardest playing teams in the league,” Pearl said. “They play harder than everybody and they played harder than us tonight.”
Mustapha Heron, Auburn’s leading scorer and rebounder, struggled throughout the contest, going just 3-of-12 from the field. The Waterbury, Connecticut native tallied just 12 points to go along with only one rebound.
T.J. Dunans and Danjel Purifoy finished a combined 4-of-19 from the field, scoring just 10 points. Freshman sensation Austin Wiley had just two field goal attempts, finishing with five points and seven rebounds.
“If you look at the stat sheet, we had a number of guys who just did not play well,” Pearl said.
Auburn finished 25-of-66 (37.9 percent) from the floor and 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) from three-point range. Tennessee out-rebounded the Tigers 43-35. Fifth-year senior Ronnie Johnson finished with 15 points in just 15 minutes for Auburn, 13 of which came in the second half. Anfernee McLemore continued his recent surge, scoring nine points and grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds.
Tennessee (13-9, 5-4) was led by Admiral Schofield who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. The 6-foot-4 sophomore finished 3-of-4 from three-point range and 6-of-9 from the field. Freshman Grant Williams scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Vols.
The loss dropped Auburn to 14-8, 3-6 in the SEC. The Tigers will head to Tuscaloosa Saturday to take on Alabama. After knocking off the Crimson Tide 84-64 earlier in the season, the Tigers know they’re going to get Alabama’s best shot.
“We just have to rebound from this one, pay attention to the scouting and learn from this one,” McLemore said. “We need to pay more attention to defensive rebounding like always, make it a learning process.”
“It is definitely going to be a lot harder,” Harper said. “They are at home in their environment so they are going to be playing their best at home. So we have to be able to lock in and be together as a team to continue to win.”
Tip-off from Coleman Coliseum is set for 7:30 CST on the SEC Network.
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