The men's basketball team traveled to Nashville to face Vanderbilt Wednesday, Jan. 23 and lost 73-61. The Tigers (8-10, 2-3 SEC) kept it close in the first half, but failed to defend Vanderbilt (8-9, 2-3 SEC) and its strong shooting offense in the second. The loss marks Auburn's third straight conference loss after starting SEC play 2-0.
After keeping the game close and leading for much of the first half, Auburn was unable to hang on as Vanderbilt went on multiple runs throughout the second half to gain an easy victory. After last week's 3-point disaster against Kentucky, the Tigers once again faltered from behind the line shooting 9-24. Senior center Rob Chubb scored 14 points and recorded eight rebounds, leading the team.
Vanderbilt's offensive teamwork shined with four players scoring more than 10 points and an impressive 24 points from the free-throw line, shooting 80 percent. Sophomore guard Kedren Johnson scored 15 points and had seven rebounds for the Commodores along with freshman guard Kevin Bright, who hit 4-7 three pointers and had 12 points off the bench for Vanderbilt.
The turning point came in the second half when Vanderbilt's shots from behind the arc began to fall. In the first half, they were 28.6 percent from the 3-point line, but in the second half made 5-10 and continued to add on to their lead.
At halftime the Tigers trailed by seven after failing to score in the final three minutes of the half. The Commodores were able to score seven unanswered and went into the locker room with the lead. They never looked back and coasted to the win on top of poor shooting from the Tigers' offense.
On Saturday, Jan. 26, Auburn looks to bounce back against No. 23 ranked Ole Miss at home at 7 p.m.
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