Takeaways: No. 25 Auburn fought hard, fell short at No. 2 Tennessee

Traveling to Knoxville on Saturday afternoon, No. 25 Auburn faced their hardest matchup so far in front of a sellout crowd of over 21,000 against No. 2 Tennessee.

It came down to the wire, but ultimately the Tigers fell just short after a Wendell Green Jr. three-point attempt came up short at the buzzer.

The final: Tennessee 46, Auburn 43.

The 89 combined points are the 4th-fewest between ranked teams in the Shot-Clock Era (since 1985-86). It’s also the lowest scoring game between ranked SEC teams in the AP Poll Era (since 1948-49).

“Most disappointing loss of the year,” Bruce Pearl said after the game. “We had a chance to beat the No. 2 team in the country… I can’t compliment our kids enough for the way they locked in the scouting report… I’m going to take some responsibility for some of our late game looks.”

Heading into today, Auburn and Tennessee were in a three-way tie with Texas A&M for second in the conference, behind just Alabama. Now, Tennessee advances to 8-2 conference play while Auburn falls to 7-3.

The Tigers lost in Knoxville last February, but held a six game win streak prior, three being in Knoxville. The two teams will compete again in Neville Arena for Auburn’s final home game on Saturday, March 4th.

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As always, here’s Takeaways from Auburn’s loss in Knoxville.

— Auburn let a 8-0 start slip away, making just one of their final 19 shots heading into halftime down by four.

— Combined, Auburn and Tennessee made 30 shots in 118 attempts. Auburn endured droughts of 10 straight misses, 15 straight misses and seven straight misses during the game. Tennessee endured droughts of seven straight misses, eight straight misses, and four different droughts of five straight misses.

“First of all, to hold Tennessee down to 27% shooting and nine percent from three, everything we did to give ourselves a chance,” Pearl said. “The effort and the energy, it was tough- the fight…”

— The two teams combined to hit five of 48 three-point attempts.

— Four of Auburn’s starting five recorded positive +/- box scores, while four of Auburn’s five bench players recorded minus +/- box scores. Meaning, Auburn’s starters were on the plus side of the scoreboard while they were in the game, but the bench couldn’t hold onto the advantage.

— Credit Auburn’s rebounding effort. Tennessee entered the game as the nation’s No. 12 team in total rebounding. Even without Dylan Cardwell, the Tigers only lost the rebounding battle by five, and tying Tennessee with 20 points in the paint.

— Wendell Green Jr. said earlier this season that his game isn’t to be judged only on points scored. Today was a good example. He scored just nine points, but grabbed seven boards, dished three assists and recorded four steals.

— How’s this when it comes to a team effort on the boards? Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome each had nine rebounds, Allen Flanigan had eight, and Green Jr. had seven.

“Those are great numbers against the best offensive rebounding team in our league,” Pearl said when asked about the defense. “Obviously, second chance points was a factor.”

— With Dylan Cardwell out due to an illness according to Auburn’s radio broadcast, Johni Broome needed to have even more of a good performance today. The sophomore extended his double-digit scoring streak tonight to five, finishing with 11 points. With 23 seconds left in the game, Broome forced a turnover in the back court to give Auburn a chance to win the game.

“Johni did great,” Pearl said. “A better coach would’ve gotten him the ball better than me. I should have gotten him more touches and I should’ve gotten it to him more, deeper.”

— K.D. Johnson had a solid second half performance today, making six of the Tigers’ eight points that cut the Vols’ eight-point lead to four with just over three minutes remaining. The junior finished up with 10 points, making six of eight free throw attempts.

“K.D is a great athlete,” Pearl said. “When you play the best teams on our schedule, you need his athleticism and his experience. His effort and his attitude have been really consistent. He’s really, really trying and that’s great at this time of the year. He’s definitely turning it on.”

— Tennessee’s Josiah-Jordan James was the difference maker, scoring 15 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the game.

— Auburn has struggled with talented guards, but really held their own against Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi on Saturday. The two combined for just 10 points, seven assists and four turnovers. The duo was 1-13 from three, and Green Jr. had as many rebounds as both combined.