The men's basketball team fought hard to send the seniors out with a win, but costly fouls and turnovers prevented them from being able to do that as they lose 82-75 to Tennessee on Wednesday, March 6.
The loss was Auburn's eighth in a row and gave the Tigers a 7-10 record at Auburn Arena on the season.
Not every part of the game was bad though. With it being senior night Head Coach Tony Barbee decided to start all seniors including Dylan Spencer who made his first-career start.
"He was ready he works his tail off," Barbee said. "I wasn't worried at all about starting Dylan and him being productive in the minutes he got."
Auburn's first points of the night came off a three from Spencer. The crowd inside Auburn Arena erupted for the senior. It was the first points of his career.
"It was great to see him get his shot off and get some points because he actually is a pretty good player," Frankie Sullivan said.
Tennessee would then take control of the game and earn a 14-5 lead over the Tigers just five minutes into the game.
But Auburn continued to fight and battle to regain the 35-32 lead right before the half.
In the second half Auburn, led by Sullivan, came out playing with a lot of intensity.
The Tigers and Volunteers battled back and forth for most of the half, but 16 fouls allowed Tennessee to pull away for the victory late in the game.
"I've never seen a stat sheet like this where we have four more field goals, two more threes and the other team takes 26 more foul shots than you do," Barbee said. "It's the difference in the ballgame."
Sullivan finished the night with 24 points and three rebounds, but he also finished with seven turnovers that made a big difference in the game.
"That easily led to their 14 points. You can't win a ballgame like that," Sullivan said. "You take my seven turnovers away we probably win the game."
Another player that had a good night was Josh Wallace who finished the night with 14-points going 5-7 on FG's and 4-4 on free throws in his final game in Auburn Arena. Unfortunately it wasn't enough.
"It hurts I wanted to go out with a win and give the fans something to look forward to next year," Wallace said. "The whole team wanted this one."
Auburn still has more games to finish off the season and Sullivan believes the Tigers still have some things left for their opponents coming up.
"The season is definitely not over," Sullivan said. "We've still got to go to Mississippi State and the SEC tournament. You see how it's been going all year with everybody beating everybody. We played a great team in Tennessee and I think we stayed neck and neck with them. We've just got to go out and leave it all out on the court."
Auburn will return to action on Saturday March 9 for its final regular season game of they year.
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