By Ken Cross
Vols seized control when … Tennessee outscored Auburn, 26-11, in a 10-minute stretch that saw a 41-36 Tigers lead turn into a 62-50 Vols advantage with 6:56 remaining. Jordan Gainey came up strong with 11 of his 15 points in the second half.
Player of the Game: Zakai Zeigler scored 20 points and passed out four assists. He was also a key in the second half with his playmaking on both ends of the floor. He scored eight points in the first half when he led Tennessee on a 12-4 run and the Vols went ahead 26-19 with 7:52 remaining.
Eye of the Tigers – Auburn reacted like a No. 1 team when the Tigers were down 61-49 and went on a 13-2 run to cut the lead to 64-62 with 4:10 to play. The Tigers then had three trips with the opportunity to tie the game and couldn’t convert. Johni Broome helped Auburn rease the 26-19 deficit when he scored six points in a 10-0 run where a Dylan Cardwell slam gave the Tigers a 29-26 advantage with 3:27 remaining.
Key Statistics: The free throw line was a chore for the Tigers as they could manages just 13-of-22 from the stripe. On the flip side, the Volunteers shot 25-of-27 from the line and Tennessee outrebounded Auburn, 35-27. The Tigers were 6-of-21 from three as they normally average 9-10 triples per contest.
Rick Barnes on Zakai Zeigler’s presence: “Maybe it’s someone looking out for me because I think him being on the bench has helped us. I think he’s being more rested where he’s able to do some
good things at the end of the game.”
Bruce Pearl on Tigers’ deficiencies in the loss: “We didn’t convert some inside shots and some free throws and some things like that that you have to in order to win a close game.”