Auburn Daily

Takeaways from Auburn basketball’s 46-43 loss to Tennessee

The Tigers move to 17-6 on the season after the tough loss in Knoxville.

SI Editorial

Takeaways from Auburn basketball’s 46-43 loss to Tennessee
Takeaways from Auburn basketball’s 46-43 loss to Tennessee /
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The Auburn Tigers got out to a hot start on the road against the Vols. Unfortunately, they then went 10 minutes without scoring and missed all but one of their last 19 first half shots. Auburn down one possession with the ball at the end had potentially the no call of the year at the buzzer.

The announcers agreed that it was an egregiously bad no call and that Wendell Green should have been given free throws to tie. It was a ridiculous final sequence to be sure.Here are a few takeaways from tonight’s game.

SEC officiating is a mess

The term rock fight has been used to describe low scoring games, but this was more like a WWE cage match. The Vol players shoved Auburn all over the place with no fouls called with Green even getting struck in the face bleeding on the floor with no foul called.

The referees made a mess of this game. They didn’t call any fouls for the first five minutes. When this happens games tend to get out of control quickly, and it was a melee brawl out there. SEC officiating is frustrating, inconsistent, and ridiculous. On the final play of the game, Auburn put up a shot to tie the game.

Green was fouled in his upper body, he was fouled in his lower body, and he was not given room to land. A similar foul was called on KD Johnson when Tennessee's Santiago Vescovi nailed a three-pointer plus the foul. 

Don Daily was the head official for today's game. Not blaming Daily for Auburn's lack of success in other areas - The Tigers could have won by making more shots - but the Tigers are 5-7 in their last 12 games he's officiated. The most recent game Daily oversaw was the Mississippi State game, which notably included another pathetic performance from the officiating crew.

There needs to be more accountability when egregious misses like today's happen.

Auburn doesn’t shoot well on the road

The Tigers are a defensive team this year. Shooting is not their strength, but they can really miss some shots on the road. Both teams shot the ball terribly, but Auburn edged to be worse starting 20% from the floor and 7% from three. Nike basketballs have been a common topic of conversation for the last year.

Auburn basketball recruiting is going really well

On a more positive note, this has been a great week for Auburn basketball despite the loss. The Tigers now have a top 5 recruiting class after getting commitments from Labaron Philon and Tahaad Pettiford this week.

Coach Pearl brilliantly let the two guards get to know each other during their recruitment. They became friends and decided to play together. Auburn is now in great shape for the next few years, and this recruiting class isn’t done yet.

Finally, here are some twitter reactions and highlights from tonight’s game:

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