Auburn forward Johni Broome gave Tennessee the credit it earned on Saturday afternoon in Nashville.
“They take pride in their defense,” Broome said in a postgame interview. “They make it hard to score. Yeah, they’re a gritty team.”
Auburn forward Johni Broome on Tennessee: They take pride in their defense. They make it hard to score. It’s a gritty team.
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) March 15, 2025
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Broome, the recently-named SEC Player of the Year, scored a game-high 23 points against the Volunteers on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to move the 1-seed Tigers into the SEC Championship game on Sunday.
Rick Barnes’s Tennessee Volunteers earned that spot, instead.
(4) Tennessee defeated (1) Auburn in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon in Bridgestone Arena by a score of 70-65. The teams battled in a heavyweight bout that went down to the wire as both teams found big runs in the final 20 minutes of play.
The difference, though, was at the free-throw line. Tennessee walloped Auburn at the charity stripe, 93% compared to the Tigers’ 59%. That also includes a 5-of-12 day from the free-throw line from Broome.
Tennessee’s win over Auburn on Saturday afternoon sets up the Vols for a spot in the SEC Tournament finals on Sunday in Nashville, TN. The Vols will look to hoist the trophy over Alabama or Florida, depending on the winner Saturday, to cap off three wins in three days here at the tournament.
Tennessee defeated Texas by 11 on Friday before defeating Auburn by 5 on Saturday. The Vols will take on their SEC Championship opponent on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. ET.
For more on Tennessee’s elimination of Auburn in the SEC Tournament semifinals, check out Rocky Top Insider’s instant takeaways article here.
Stay tuned to RTI for live, on-site coverage of the championship game on Sunday afternoon in Nashville, TN.
Tennessee-Auburn FINAL STATS
#SECTournament Semifinals pic.twitter.com/DXkgeFaaVp
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) March 15, 2025
