Paul Finebaum 'impressed' by Auburn despite Tennessee loss

This weekend’s matchup between Tennessee and Auburn was quite the mess. It was competitive and a grind throughout but, considering the offensive woes, the game was a tough watch at times. Still, although the Tigers left Knoxville with a three-point loss, Paul Finebaum thinks the performance said a lot about them.

Finebaum shared his thought on the game on Monday’s edition of ‘McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning’. He said he was ‘impressed’ by their effort to be in the game with Tennessee until the very last attempt.

“I came away impressed with Auburn that it could go to Thompson-Boling and have a shot to at least tie the game at the end. I thought that was a credit to Bruce Pearl’s team,” Finebaum said.

Offense was optional early Saturday afternoon when these two squads squared off. Tennessee shot 27% from the field and 9.5% from three. Auburn didn’t do much better at 23.6% overall while finishing at 11.1% from deep. Neither team turned it over that much but, for the life of them, they could not find the bottom of the basket

Although Tennessee took an eight-point lead late, the Tigers ended the game on an 11-6 run. KD Johnson stifled that effort a tad after fouling Santiago Vescovi to give the Volunteers a four-point play. Even so, their defense earned them the extra possessions they needed to try and force overtime. Still, after a controversial no-call on a three-point shot from Wendell Green, Auburn came up short and lost the 46-43 slugfest.

Not everyone believes in ‘moral victories’ but, considering all things, this was an effort Auburn can still be proud of. They hung in there with one of the top teams in the nation on their home floor, which suggests good things could be coming for the Tigers as they enter February and head toward the postseason.