Auburn coach Bruce Pearl made it clear his former team’s first trip to Auburn Arena since Pearl’s arrival was not just another game for the Tigers, and his team didn’t play like it was.
Kareem Canty and Bryce Brown scored 20 apiece and combined for 10 3-pointers, and Tyler Harris recorded his sixth double-double of the season to lead Auburn over Tennessee, 83-77, in the SEC opener for both teams on Saturday.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve beaten Tennessee. I guess the last time that Auburn beat Tennessee, I was coaching that [Tennessee] team,” Pearl said. “That one there we had to have. I thought we defended extremely well.”
Auburn (7-5, 1-0 SEC) turned in an inspired defensive performance, and Tennessee (7-6, 0-1 SEC) struggled mightily from the floor throughout the game as a result. The Volunteers connected on only one of their first 11 shots and four of their first 21. They also missed their first 11 3-point attempts and were held well below their 36 percent season average from downtown, making only three of their 28 total attempts from behind the arc.
“We took six or seven threes we shouldn’t have taken, just guys doing things we didn’t want them to do,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “[I’m] just disappointed in the way we played offensively in the first half, and even throughout the game. We just don’t execute consistently.”
Auburn used a 9-0 run halfway through the first half to secure a 22-10 lead, but Tennessee responded with an 11-0 run to cut the Tigers’ lead to one.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl was forced to go to his bench early, as Horace Spencer, Bryce Brown and Cinmeon Bowers picked up their second fouls early in the first half.
Tennessee guard Kevin Punter Jr. took advantage, scoring 18 of his game-high 31 points in the first half.
“He’s the best offensive guard we’ve faced so far for sure. He’s a really tough cover,” Pearl said. “But Bryce Brown did a really good job against him.”
Tennessee grabbed its first lead on an Admiral Schofield layup with 1:54 remaining in the first half, and the Volunteers carried a 36-34 lead into halftime.
Brown caught fire out of the locker room, scoring 11 of the Tigers’ first 13 points of the second half.
“I was feeling it at the moment,” Brown said. “Like I said, my point guard, my four man, they hit me in the right spots, got open, knocked the shots down. … I’m going to continue to build on that.”
The Tigers gradually grew their lead to as many as eight points in the second half but could never put away Tennessee, thanks largely to the 23 offensive rebounds grabbed by the Volunteers.
“We’ve got to do a better job ourselves of competing on the boards,” Pearl said. “Those are two of the smaller teams in the league. We aren’t very big, and they aren’t either. But they just fly around and play with great effort and energy. We’re going to have to improve in that area.”
Tennessee cut the lead to four with a layup with 11 seconds left, but Tyler Harris made two free throws to snap Auburn’s eight-game losing streak to Tennessee, which dated back to 2009.
The Tigers, which have now won four of their last five conference games dating back to last season’s SEC Tournament, will return to action on Tuesday, when they host undefeated South Carolina at 6 p.m. The win was a sweet way to kick off the SEC schedule for Pearl, but also for Harris, who now holds bragging rights over his older brother, Tobias, who played for Pearl at Tennessee.
“I wanted to beat them just as bad as Bruce wanted to beat them. It gives me something to talk about, brag on to my brother,” Harris said. “I’m just glad we was able to get the win and do that one for BP. I know he wanted that.”
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