AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team fell just shy of knocking off the No. 1 team in the nation Saturday night, falling at top-ranked Auburn, 53-51, at a sold-out Neville Arena.
In the fifth AP top-six showdown in program history, No. 6/7 Tennessee (17-3, 4-3 SEC) led by four with under two minutes left, but the Tigers earned the win in a back-and-forth defensive affair. Senior guard Zakai Zeigler paced the Volunteers with 14 points.
Both teams got off to sluggish shooting starts, but Auburn (18-1, 6-0 SEC) took 10 more shots than Tennessee in the first 8:11 to build a 10-5 advantage, as it forced five turnovers, committed only one and posted a 5-0 margin on the offensive glass. In the next two-plus minutes, though, the Volunteers forced a pair of turnovers and grabbed a trio of offensive boards to level the score at 10-10 with 9:01 on the timer.
The Tigers then held the visitors scoreless for 3:36 and tallied the next six points—half on a 3-pointer and the other three via free throws from a foul on a 3-point attempt—to take their largest lead, 16-10, but Tennessee answered back. It held Auburn scoreless for 4:27, during which it posted a 6-0 run in 1:18 to even the game at 16 with 4:07 left in the frame.
Auburn took a 22-20 edge into the locker room after a half that included a combined 1-of-21 ledger from 3-point range. The Tigers shot 1-of-10 beyond the arc, while the Volunteers notched a 0-of-11 clip. Both sides made seven field goals, Auburn on 32 shots (21.9 percent) and Tennessee on 25 shots (28.0 percent)
The Volunteers used a 6-0 run in 1:47 early in the second half, during a span of 3:52 in which it did not allow a point, to take a 28-26 lead at the 16:04 mark. Auburn went back ahead, 33-30, with 12:46 to go, but Tennessee, after a 0-of-14 start, made its first 3-pointer 36 seconds later to tie the game. After an Auburn basket, the Volunteers regained the lead, 36-35 with 9:41 to go, on a second straight long-range make.
The Tigers, following a 1-of-16 start, hit their second 3-pointer with 6:09 remaining and then made a pair of free throws 26 seconds later to go up by five, 45-40. Tennessee once again countered, scoring five points in 26 seconds, capped with a game-tying 3-pointer by senior guard Jordan Gainey with 4:43 on the clock.
Tennessee went back in front, 48-47, on a transition 3-pointer by fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier with 3:10 left. The Volunteers then took their then-biggest lead, 50-47, on a pair of free throws by Zeigler with 2:23 to play. Senior guard Jahmai Mashack added a free throw 16 seconds later to extend the margin to four.
The Tigers cut the deficit in half with 1:46 left and then went back ahead, 52-51, with 28 seconds on the ticker on a second-chance corner 3-pointer by senior guard Miles Kelly. Auburn was 2-of-19 from long range before the go-ahead shot. Freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford then split a pair from the line with 12.7 seconds to play, putting Auburn up by two. Tennessee missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds and the Tigers held on for the victory.
In addition to his team-best point total, Zeigler had six rebounds, a game-leading five assists and a co-team-high two steals. The Long Island, N.Y., native also went a perfect 6-of-6 at the stripe, plus committed only one turnover in a season-high 39:14 of action.
Lanier finished with 10 points, while senior guard Jordan Gainey had eight, Mashack notched seven along with six boards and junior forward Felix Okpara scored six to complement his team-high nine rebounds.
Auburn senior forward/center Johni Broome, who returned to action after suffering a left ankle injury 14 days ago, totaled 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks to pace all players in each category. Tennessee did hold him to 7-of-20 shooting, as well as to just three points in the final 15 minutes after he scored half of the Tigers’ first 26.
Senior forward Chaney Johnson posted 10 points on a 5-of-8 field-goal clip for Auburn, Pettiford had eight and senior guard/forward Chad Baker-Mazara chipped in a seven on an unblemished 7-of-7 free-throw ledger.
Tennessee limited Auburn, by far the top team in the nation in KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency, to season lows in points, field-goal percentage (30.5; 18-of-59), 3-point percentage (15.0; 3-of-20), made field goals and made 3-pointers. The 53 points were the Tigers’ fewest since a 46-43 loss at Tennessee on Feb. 4, 2023.
The Volunteers now return to Knoxville, Tenn., where they begin a three-game homestand Tuesday at 7 p.m. against ninth-ranked Kentucky, live on ESPN from Food City Center.
