A stuttering Auburn offense had been slowing this team down. Saturday morning, the Tigers started hot and stayed hot as they cruised past Tennessee 85-63.
"That's about as good as we can play," said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl.
That was evident today as both the offense and defense for Auburn (25-6, 12-6 SEC) showed up. The Tigers defense has never been the weak point of this team and that trend continued as they held Tennessee to 33% from the floor. Offensively, Auburn shot a crisp 50% from the floor.
"We got open looks, and the kids knocked them down," Pearl said.
The Auburn offense was powered by a career night from senior Samir Doughty. Doughty finished the day with 32 points as he went 8-for-13 on 3-pointers.
"I was in the zone tonight," Doughty said.
Auburn got into foul trouble early in this game and had to rely on the bench to help it late in the first half.
Freshman Allen Flanigan stepped up once fellow freshman Isaac Okoro had to step out of the game. Flanigan put up seven points and five rebounds in that time to get Auburn its 42-31 half-time lead.
"He was being aggressive, attacking, rebounding on the offensive glass," Doughty said of Flanigan.
The Tigers started the second half similar to the first, and it looked like Auburn was going to easily cruise the rest of the game.
But Tennessee was not done fighting as it cut the Auburn lead to six midway through the second half. It looked like the reverse of the previous matchup between these teams, where Auburn stormed back from 17-point deficit in the second half to beat Tennessee.
The Tigers were determined to not let that happen and answered with a 13-6 run to get their double-digit lead back.
Auburn will look to keep this form as it heads into the Southeastern Conference Tournament, and eventually the NCAA Tournament.
With a Florida loss against Kentucky, Auburn has secured the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers first game will be Friday, March 13. Their game is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST with against the winner of No. 10 Missouri vs. No. 7 Texas A&M.
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