Thursday afternoon the Auburn Tigers traveled to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt in a game that included eight ties and 17 lead changes that resulted in a 53-50 loss for the Tigers. This loss brings their conference record to 1-4 and overall to 12-6.
The game, originally set for 7 pm, was moved to an earlier start time due to impending winter weather in the Nashville Area.
Auburn was coming off of a big win at home against reigning national champion LSU while Vanderbilt was coming off a loss to Missouri which shattered its win streak from December.
Offensively, graduate senior Honesty Scott-Grayson led the Tigers once again with 15 points, six assists and six rebounds. Close behind was senior Taylen Collins, just short of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Tigers shot 58.3% from the free-throw line and 35.6% from the field.
Defensively, the Tigers forced 21 turnovers and had nine steals for the game.
“(Vanderbilt) started putting it on the floor because they didn’t have passes available,” said head coach Johnnie Harris. “Our defense was good, we held a good offensive team to 53 points. But it was not a good shooting night for us. But that’s life on the road in the SEC, we’ve got to be able to finish.”
Both offenses got off to a slow start in the first quarter with the home team starting the game 0-for-6, not making a bucket until the halfway point of the quarter. The quarter ended with Auburn in the lead 9-6.
In the second quarter, both offenses kicked into full gear. The Commodores, playing catchup, eventually tied the score with six minutes left in the half. After a back-and-forth battle, the Tigers came out with the 23-22 lead to close out the half.
Vanderbilt came out hot in the second half with a layup and three-point jumper to immediately take the lead. Shots from Collins, Scott-Grayson and JaMya Mingo-Young allowed the Tigers to steal back the lead; however, it was short lived.
The third quarter ended almost identical to the second, with a back-and-forth battle that resulted in the Tigers coming out with a one-point lead to head into the deciding final quarter.
The score was once again tied with a minute left on the clock, but the Commodores scored with 33 seconds left. Trailing by two, the Tigers had the chance to tie the game at the free-throw line with just six seconds remaining, but the first shot was missed, and the following was waved off due to lane violation.
After a standout sideline defensive play from Mingo-Young, the Tigers got the ball back with four seconds left. However, Auburn was unable to get a shot off, resulting in Vanderbilt drawing a foul to take them to the line which sealed their victory.
“We came out and made mistakes, but we were still in the ball game,” Harris said. “We had a lot thrown at us – had to change the game time, got in late, had to get up early for shootaround – those are not excuses. Our kids handled that. We have to control what we can control. We were driving it to the hole, and things just didn’t go our way.”
Next up, Auburn is back in Neville Arena to host rival Alabama on Sunday, Jan. 21. Tipoff is set for 2 pm CST, and the game will be televised on SEC Network+.
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Alexa Gardner is a junior at Auburn, majoring in exercise science. From Birmingham, Alabama, she started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @alexagardner_
