Auburn’s basketball team has had the most up-and-down seasons in recent memory — starting with freshman phenom point guard Sharife Cooper waiting nearly half the season for his eligibility to go along with Auburn self-imposing a postseason ban.
With a 12-13 overall record, 6-10 in conference play, the Tigers needed something to make this season positive. The Auburn players, coaches and fans got a chance to host ranked rival Tennessee inside of Auburn Arena.
In the only meeting this season between the two teams, Auburn defeated the Volunteers 77-72. Auburn led the game the entire second half, but Tennessee kept things interesting in the final minutes.
Bruce Pearl spoke to Andy Burcham on the “Auburn Basketball Review” show the day before the matchup with Tennessee and explained how he felt about the matchup.
On how good Tennessee has been this year, Pearl said, “The league has been much more competitive than most people realized. … Tennessee is still one of the best teams in the league, but probably isn’t going to win it this year.”
It is worth noting that Auburn has not lost to Tennessee since January 2017, meaning it has been over four years since the Tigers have lost a game to the Vols. Saturday’s win actually extends the win streak to six games for Bruce Pearl and the Tigers.
Pearl described Tennessee as a “really good defensive ball club that is physical and tough.”
He added, “They are probably not too happy about the fact that they have lost five straight to Auburn. They will come in here with their hair on fire.”
With Cooper still being out with an ankle injury suffered last week in practice, the Tigers knew they would have to rely on their sophomores to step up. That is just what happened Saturday, with Allen Flanigan and Devan Cambridge leading the team in points.
Flanigan was the point leader, as well as the team leader, shooting two for five from beyond the arc; he put in most of his work in the paint to get to 23 points in the win.
Guard Jamal Johnson also had a great game shooting two for three from downtown and adding 14 total points to the Tiger’s score.
All five of Auburn’s starters were in the double-digit scoring. Jaylin Williams also had one of his best performances this season with 13 points and two rebounds.
While the Tiger defense played exceptionally well, they still couldn’t stop Tennessee star guard Keon Johnson from hitting nine three-point shots as part of his total of 23 points. Auburn was able to return the favor on offense almost every time Johnson and the Vols started trying to claw back into the lead.
It was positive to see Auburn play one of their best games without arguably their best two players on the court. When Bruce Pearl called on his players to step up in Cooper’s absence, they showed out.
Saturday’s game was an AUTLIVE Cancer game for Auburn where the school raises awareness and money for cancer prevention and detection. It is worth noting that this great cause has been great for Auburn as they are 6-0 in AUTLIVE Cancer games.
Auburn will travel to Tuscaloosa on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. to take on the Crimson Tide, who sit at the top of the league and will be playing for at least a share of the SEC regular-season championship Saturday night against the Mississippi Bulldogs.
If Bama falls to Mississippi State, that game on Tuesday will be a chance for Auburn to help ruin Bama’s championship season.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football and college basketball writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: hayden@new-yhn.local or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
