Auburn Daily

Auburn Bounced from SEC Tournament by Tennessee, Waits on Selection Sunday

The Auburn Tigers were outplayed down the stretch by the Tennessee Volunteers and now await their fate for the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn Daily Staff

Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl reacts to a foul called against the Tennessee Volunteers in Auburn's SEC Tournament loss.
Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl reacts to a foul called against the Tennessee Volunteers in Auburn's SEC Tournament loss. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Johni Broome scored 23 points and No. 3 Auburn had a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but No. 8 Tennessee defeated the Tigers 70-65 Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals at Bridgestone Arena.

“Our guys are great competitors, I’m very proud of them,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “I believe that this team has, from start to finish, done enough to be the No. 1overall seed in this (NCAA) tournament. Our resume is historically one of the strongest resumes in the history of college basketball. Certainly losing to No. 8 Tennessee shouldn’t knock us off that spot.”

Trailing by 12 with 6:05 to play, Auburn rallied with a 10-0 run that began with Chad Baker-Mazara’s 3-pointer. After Broome hit a pair of free throws, Auburn forced a turnover on a 5-second violation, then pulled within four points on Miles Kelly’s 3-pointer, giving the Tigers five points in 5 seconds.

After another Tennessee turnover, Broome banked in a shot with his right hand to draw the Tigers within two with 4:10 to play.

Auburn forced another turnover, but the Tigers missed a shot in the paint and Tennessee got a tip-in at the other end for a 66-62 lead.

Denver Jones made a free throw to pull Auburn within three with 3:08 remaining but the Tigers missed a 3-pointer that would’ve tied it with 2:40 to play.

With the Volunteers doubling Broome, Baker-Mazara scored after another Auburn steal to pull the Tigers within three with 1:16, but Auburn would not score again.

Trailing by three in the final minute, the Tigers got a stop and a defensive rebound, but Auburn missed a pair of free throws, then Broome made a steal with 26 seconds left but the Tigers missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer 10 seconds later.

The Volunteers made 25 of 27 free throws, a 92.6-percent clip, while Auburn was 13 of 22 (59.1%) from the line.

“Incredible respect for Bruce and Auburn, the job he’s done there and the year they’ve had,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “Both teams played their hearts out. A high-level, hard-fought game. Both teams showed a lot of toughness, a lot of toughness. Today came out our way.”

“We have to do a better job defensively,” Pearl said. “Last time we played them, they scored 51 points. Tonight, they scored 70.  We fouled them too much. They scored 37 percent of their points from the foul line. That’s on us. We didn’t convert some inside shots and some free throws, things like that you have to do to win a close game. You hold them to 70, you’ve still got a chance.”

Broome, the SEC player of the year, was 9 of 13 from the field and 5 of 12 from the free-throw line while leading Auburn with seven rebounds.

“Now we’re looking ahead to the March Madness tournament,” Broome said. “We’ve got to learn from it, watch film and get better going into March Madness.”

Kelly scored 13 points while Jones added 10. Dylan Cardwell chipped in seven points, five rebounds, a steal, a block and an assist.

“A heightened sense of urgency to continue the season,” Cardwell said, looking ahead to next week’s NCAA Tournament. “I want to play until April 7 so I can get more time with my friends and make history. This is the greatest team I’ve ever been on.”

Leading by one at the half in a game that featured 18 lead changes, Broome gave the Tigers a 41-36 lead, Auburn’s largest, with a bucket in the paint to cap a 6-0 run early in the second half. 

After Tennessee tied the score with a 3-pointer and took the lead with a pair of free throws, Kelly answered with a catch-and-shoot 3 that put Auburn ahead 46-45 with 13:08 to play.

After Kelly again gave the Tigers a one-point lead, Tennessee matched its largest lead to that point with an 8-0 run, capitalizing on five consecutive missed Auburn shots.

After committing only one first half turnover, the Tigers had five in the second half. Zakai Zeiger, who led Tennessee with 20 points, hit a 3-pointer after a Volunteers steal that gave his team a double-digit lead with 7:17 remaining before the Tigers railed.

Broome made 6 of 7 shots in the first half and scored 12 points to lead the Tigers to a one-point halftime lead.

Zeigler drove and scored in the paint to give Tennessee a seven-point lead before Auburn answered with a 10-0 run, taking a 27-26 lead on Broome’s right-handed layup.

Cardwell then knocked the ball away from Tennessee’s Cade Phillips near the 3-point line, gained possession at half-court, dribbled twice and dunked to give the Tigers a 29-26 lead, thrilling the thousands of Auburn fans in attendance.

The Tigers made four first-half steals while forcing six Tennessee turnovers, leading to a 9-0 advantage in points off turnovers for the Tigers, who committed only one turnover in the half and led 33-32 at intermission.

Auburn (28-5) turns its attention to Selection Sunday, where the Tigers anticipate earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“We lost to some great teams,” Pearl said. “I can hardly wait until next weekend and start playing again. Let’s get to Sunday, let’s find out where we’re going, let’s get back to work.”

TENNESSEE POSTGAME NOTES

• Auburn moves to 5-10 all-time in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. The Tigers are now 38-58 in the tournament overall.

• Auburn went with the starting five of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. The group is 19-4 as a starting unit this season. Cardwell is the only player who has started all 33 games.

• The Tigers drained six 3-point field goals in the game. They now have made 303 three-pointers on the season becoming the third team in program history to make 300 three-pointers in a season (all in the last eight seasons).

• With 23 made field goals on Saturday, Auburn moved up to fourth on the school’s single-season field goals made list (980). Three of the top four seasons on the list have come in the last seven years under head coach Bruce Pearl.

• Auburn assisted on 13 of its 23 made field goals. The Tigers now have 544 assists on the season, which is the third-most assists in a single season in program history. The top three seasons on the list have all come in the last seven seasons.

• AU committed only six turnovers against Tennessee. It was the fifth time the Tigers have had no more than six turnovers in a game and their 20th single-digit turnover game this season. In the first half of play, they made a season-low one turnover against the Vols.

• Auburn placed three players in double figures led by Broome’s 23-point performance. He went 9-of-13 from the floor and added seven rebounds, two steals and one assist. It was Broome’s 17th 20-point game of the season including his third straight during which he is averaging 26.7 points per game. Broome averaged 23.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in two games in this year’s SEC Tournament. He has now grabbed 905 rebounds in his three-year Auburn career, moving ahead of Rex Frederick (1956-59) for fifth on the school’s career rebounding list. On the afternoon, he moved up to 14th on Auburn’s single-season scoring chart with 585 points, passing Eddie Johnson (1973-74), Chris Denson (2013-14), his own season total from last year, Jabari Smith (2021-22) and Aaron Swinson (1993-94). Broome also moved up to second on the school’s single-season rebounding list, passing Frederick (1956-57 and 1957-58) and Cinmeon Bowers (2014-15) finishing the game with 329 boards.

• Kelly added 13 points on 3-of-8 shooting from long range along with two assists, two rebounds and two steals against the Vols. It was his 20th game in double figures this season and the 69th of his career.

• Jones chipped in 10 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the foul line against the Vols. He made his first seven free throws, before missing his last attempt to stop his streak at 30-consecutive made free throws over his last nine games. It was his 21st game in double figures this season including both SEC Tournament games where he averaged 11.5 points per contest.

 

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Auburn Daily Staff
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