AUBURN – In front of a sold-out crowd, the top-ranked Auburn Tigers took down No. 6 Tennessee in a 53-51 thriller to cap off a day full of excitement in Neville Arena.
The win gives Auburn seven wins against ranked opponents this season, setting a program record as the Tigers continue to ride an SEC-best 11-game winning streak.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Auburn can win in different ways
With Johni Broome, without Johni Broome. From deep, or not from deep. With smothering defense or little defense at all, Auburn can win in different ways. It’s what good teams do. And Saturday night, the top-ranked Tigers just found a way to win.
It was an ugly night for the Tigers' basketball shooting, as they shot a season-low 31% from the field. But they held one of the nation's best scorers—Chaz Lanier—to 10 points, outrebounded a top-10 offensive rebounding squad and scored 24 points in the paint.
The Tigers’ typical 3-point shooting performance was nowhere to be found. They missed the front end of 1-and-1s and committed 16 fouls. Auburn’s backcourt, consisting of four guys averaging double-digits, went a combined 5-of-30 from the field.
But they found a way to win.
Miles Kelly ices the game
Miles Kelly, who leads the Tigers in 3-point makes on a 43.2% clip from deep, went just 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. However, it was against the nation's best 3-point percentage defense (25.9). His last mark couldn’t have come at a better time.
As the Tigers stared a two-point deficit in the eyes with 30 seconds left, Kelly drained a 3-pointer in front of the Auburn bench to vault the Tigers ahead of the Volunteers for the remainder of the contest.
The Tigers went just 3-of-20 from deep with Johni Broome the only other Tiger to convert on a 3-pointer.
Physical and Ugly
If you were expecting a fast-paced, high-scoring showdown between the most efficient offensive team in the country in Auburn and Tennessee – who’s home to the league's second-leading scorer in Chaz Lanier – then you were highly disappointed.
At the under-12 media timeout, there were more fouls committed from both teams (nine) than field goals made (six). At the half, both teams were a combined 14-of-58 from the field. For Auburn, a 22% clip (7-of-32) was the lowest mark of the season – next being 28 against Houston – while the Volunteers went 7-of-25 (28%), going 0-for-11 from deep.
Things picked up—slightly—in the second half as both teams shot over 35%, 42% for Auburn. However, it remained a down-low affair for the most part as there were 28 points scored in the paint and 52 overall.
Return of the Broome
Johni Broome returned to action for the first the first time in two weeks, sliding right in where he left off as the game’s leading scorer with 16 points, hauling in 12 rebounds for a double-double performance.
Broome came off the bench for the Tigers and provided an instant spark for a stagnant offense, scoring seven of the Tigers' first 13 points and continuing to make his case for National Player of the Year.
The Tigers are back in action on Wednesday night in Baton Rogue, La. against LSU. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on SECN.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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