The Tennessee Volunteers have hit their groove as January comes to an end, and the good times continued on Saturday night after a two-game road trip. The Vols defeated Steven Pearl’s Auburn Tigers 77-69 in primetime on ESPN. Nate Ament posted a game-high 22 points despite a terrible shooting day. He went 4-16 from the […]
The Tennessee Volunteers have hit their groove as January comes to an end, and the good times continued on Saturday night after a two-game road trip.
The Vols defeated Steven Pearl’s Auburn Tigers 77-69 in primetime on ESPN.
Nate Ament posted a game-high 22 points despite a terrible shooting day. He went 4-16 from the field, but a 12-15 showing at the free throw line salvaged his day. Jaylen Carey had 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench.
The Vols’ defense was the story at the start of the game, as they kept the Tigers under wraps early on. The Tigers fell behind 16-6 on an Ament three. After the Tigers dew to within four, Tennessee went on a 9-2 run to take a commanding 29-16 lead. They’d push it out to 16 at 37-21 on a jumper from Carey.
But the end of the first half was an ugly one for the Vols, and it gave a bit of life to Auburn. With Tennessee up 41-27, Auburn’s Kevin Overton let go a long three from the top of the key. It swished home, and Ja’Kobi Gillespie toppled him over for a four-point play. Instead of a 14-point lead, Auburn went into the locker room down 10 and with plenty of momentum.
Auburn made a push early in the second half with a pair of and-ones, but some Ament free throws helped get the lead back up to 49-40, where the scoreboard would stay for several stagnant minutes.
But, for the second time, Gillespie fouled an Auburn three-point shooter and delivered a four-point play. Tahaad Pettiford dribbled to the wing and got off a quick three, with Gillespie bumping into him for another clear foul. This time, the lead shrank to 49-44, and Auburn would get the lead down to four at 53-49.
Fortunately, despite some runs, that would be the closest the Tigers would get the rest of the way. Tennessee finally pushed their lead back over 10 points again at 70-59 on a Carey layup. Auburn made one final run, getting it to 72-66 with just under 2 minutes left, but Tennessee’s defense locked in over the final two minutes to close out the win.
Up next for the Vols is a home tilt with Ole Miss on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm ET.
Category: General Sports
