Three Quick Takeaways: Tennessee Loses Late Lead, Falls At No. 1 Auburn

Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

AUBURN, Ala. — Tennessee had Auburn on its heels with less than two minutes to play and had a golden opportunity to earn a monumental win against the top-ranked Tigers.

But then they let it get away, struggling on offense in the final stretch as Auburn used a 6-0 closing run to earn a 53-51 victory.

Here’s three quick takeaways on the loss.

Another Ugly Offensive Performance

In Tennessee’s first big time road challenge at Florida, its offense turned in the worst performance of the Rick Barnes’ era. The Vols scored 15 points in the first half on their way to 43 points on the game in an abysmal offensive showing.

Tennessee’s matchup at Auburn was much of the same on the offensive end. They scored just 51 points in the game including just 20 points in the first half as they struggled to get anything going on the offensive end.

The Vols didn’t make their first shot from the field until over five minutes into the game and missed their first 14 three-point attempts.

Very few people had any level of offensive success for Tennessee but Zakai Zeigler was solid with 14 points and five. Chaz Lanier was the only other person to score in double-digits with 10 points.

Tennessee’s final offensive numbers were 51 points on 31% shooting from the field and .823 points per possession.

Tennessee’s Defense Keeps Them In It

While the offense was very reminiscent of the game at Florida, there was a major difference. That the game was incredibly competitive because Tennessee played absolutely phenomenal defense.

Auburn came into the game with by far the nation’s best offense and Tennessee shut them down. National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome wasn’t quite at 100% but he did play and had a major impact on the game, scoring a game-high 16 points.

Entering the game, Auburn ranked in the top 25 nationally in three-point shooting percentage. Tennessee ranked first in three-point defense. The Vols won that key battle with Auburn shooting just three-of-20 from three-point range. Certainly Auburn missed some good looks but those were few and far between.

Tennessee did a great job of taking everyone other than Broome out of the game. Jahmai Mashack had Chad Baker-Mazara in a torture chamber. Auburn’s second leading scorer totaled just seven points on zero-of-five shooting from the field

Turnovers weren’t a massive problem for Auburn. The Tigers 12 turnovers weren’t an unreal amount but Tennessee turned those turnovers into 13 points including some easy buckets.

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Tennessee Lets A Golden Opportunity Get Away At Auburn

Jahmai Mashack was shooting the bonus with Tennessee leading 50-47 with 2:07 to play. The Vols were in a great spot to pull off the upset.

Mashack even made the front end to make it a two possession move but from there things went downhill.

Tahaad Pettiford made a nice move and finished a tough two to cut the lead in half. Felix Okpara was called for a travel on a play with a lot of contact, leading Rick Barnes to spike his water at the lack of foul call.

Both teams had a pair of empty possessions then Miles Kelly hit Auburn’s third three of the game from the corner to give Auburn a 52-51 lead.

Igor Milicic missed at the basket on the other end but Auburn made just one of two free throws which kept the lead at two points.

Tennessee had one last chance but Zeigler’s triple went in-and-out. The Vols had another golden opportunity get away at Neville Arena and this one was extra big against the No. 1 team in the country.

Final Stats

Up Next

Tennessee returns to Knoxville to host Kentucky in a highly anticipated rivalry showdown on Tuesday night. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET with ESPN broadcasting the game.

 

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