Head coach Bruce Pearl followed one of the referees to half court when the game ended.
Wendell Green Jr. had just walked the ball up the court with 16.4 seconds left in the game. With the ball in his hands for the final shot, he lined himself up for a 3-point attempt with five seconds left to tie the game and send it into overtime. He missed it, off the right side of the rim.
Many fans of the Tigers believe he was fouled, as Oliver Nkamhoa stepped close to defend the shot as he was coming down. Green Jr. was knocked down, Josiah Jordan-James grabbed the rebound and Tennessee handed Auburn its third loss in the last four games.
That was the theme of this game. Multiple shots couldn’t find the bottom of the net for both teams, and the buzzer sounded with a final score of just 46-43.
“Most disappointing loss of the year,” Pearl said. “Had a chance to beat the No. 2 team in the country. The kids did an incredible job defensively. I can’t compliment our kids enough for the way they locked into the scouting report.”
Both the Tigers and the Volunteers shot under 30% from the field and under 12% from behind the arc.
Though there was intense defense played between the two teams, a number of wide-open shots were missed. K.D. Johnson had some that couldn’t go down, as well as Tennessee's Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler. The rim at Thompson-Boiling Arena did not give either team a break.
“Tennessee is a great defensive team. A great defensive team,” Pearl said. “Apparently, they’re the best defensive team in the country and they played like it tonight."
The only time in the game when the Tigers seemed to have anything going was at the start, when there was a battle between Johni Broome and Nkamhoua. Broome made three shots for six points in the first five minutes and held his own against Nkahmoua, limiting him to 1-of-6 shooting before the first media timeout. Broome went on to lead the Tigers with 11 points.
After that timeout, the Volunteers were able to climb their way back into the game, outscoring the Tigers 9-2 to claim the lead. The Tigers did not reclaim it.
The game was physical, as expected, with multiple Tigers players taking a number of bumps and bruises. Johnson went down to the floor on a couple of plays, one after being caught by a hard screen from Tennessee center, Uros Plavsic. Holding his head for a few minutes, he returned to the bench for a time.
“They’re monsters. They’re big, strong, physical,” Pearl said. “I thought our guys fought pretty valiantly.”
With Dylan Cardwell out due to illness, the Tigers held their own against a big and lengthy Tennessee team.
After its hot start, the only other time it seemed like the Tigers had anything going was late in the second half. With five minutes left, they cut the lead to two (40-38) with two made free throws by Jaylin Williams.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Vescovi responded with his only made 3-pointer of the game and was fouled on the shot, sending him to the line to convert a four-point play and extending the Volunteers' lead to six.
The missed foul call may seem like the reason the Tigers could not capitalize on an opportunity to send the game to overtime, but it was the poor offensive performance that cost them a road win against a top team in the SEC.
“I’ve just got to work on endgame offense, so I get my team better shots,” Pearl said. “That’s what I'm responsible for.”
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William Halliday started with The Plainsman in fall 2022. He is a journalism major from Memphis, Tennessee.
Twitter: @wphalliday3
