No. 2 Tennessee hangs on against No. 25 Auburn, 46-43

No. 2 Tennessee’s lead was down to two with just under three minutes left Saturday afternoon. No. 25 Auburn couldn’t make a shot but was still within range of making it out of Thompson-Boling Arena with a win.

Then Santiago Vescovi made a three from the wing, his first of the day, and got fouled in the process. He hit the free throw to make it a four-point play, stretched the lead to six for the Vols and it was enough to hang on for a 46-43 win.

The Vols shot just 27.0 percent from the field but Bruce Pearl’s Tigers were somehow worse, shooting 24.1 percent. They were 13-for-55 from the floor and 3-for-27 from the 3-point line.

Tennessee (19-4, 8-2 SEC) got a game-high 15 points from Josiah-Jordan James, who finished 5-for-11 from the field. He grabbed 14 rebounds to record the his first double-double of the season and fifth of his career. His teammates combined to make just 12 more shots, as the Vols went 17-for-63 from the field and 2-for-21 from the 3-point line. 

Before the Vescovi four-point play, Tennessee was just 2-for-17 from three.

Auburn (17-6, 7-3) got 10 points from KD Johnson and Johni Broome had 11 points and nine rebounds. Wendell Green Jr. missed a long 3-point attempt as time expired, hitting Tennessee forward Olivier Nkamhoua as he landed. No foul was called and Pearl followed the officiating crew off the floor complaining about the no-call.

The Tigers had the deficit back down to three after a transition three from Green with 32 seconds left, then had possession after a Tennessee turnover with 28.2 seconds left.

Broome scored out of a timeout, getting Auburn within one with 18 seconds left, but Zakai Zeigler made two free throws on the other end.

James scored in the paint with 5:25 left to get the lead to eight, matching Tennessee’s biggest advantage of the game, but Auburn was back within two at the 2:39 mark after a 6-0 run.

Nkamhoua scored nine points, going 4-for-16 from the field, with two rebounds in 23 minutes. Julian Phillips had three points and three rebounds in just 19 minutes, going 1-for-3 from the field.

Zeigler scored three points, going 0-for-10 from the field and 0-for-7 from the 3-point line. He had six of Tennessee’s 11 assists and added four rebounds. He had three turnovers. Vescovi had seven points on 2-for-7 shooting and 1-for-6 at the 3-point line.

Vols led by four at halftime despite starting 2-for-17 from the floor

After shooting 16-for-68 in the 67-54 loss at Florida on Wednesday, Tennessee started 2-for-17 from the floor against Auburn. The Tigers jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game, as the Vols missed their first seven shots from the floor, but Tennessee answered in time to lead 23-19 at halftime, leading for just over 10 minutes in the first half.

Auburn made just one of its first 19 shots from the field before halftime. The two teams combined to go 16-for-60 from the floor and just 2-for-20 from the 3-point line in the first half. 

James scored nine points in the first half and Nkamhoua had six. Julian Phillips, Tyreke Key, Jahmai Mashack and Uros Plavsic scored two points each in the opening half, while Vescovi and Zeigler were both shutout. Nkamhoua needed 10 shots from the field to score his six points.

Auburn got seven points and five rebounds from Broome, who played 18 of the 20 minutes in the first half.

Up Next: No. 2 Tennessee at Vanderbilt, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

The Vols are back on the road at Vanderbilt on Wednesday, a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network from Memorial Gym in Nashville. Tennessee beat Vanderbilt 77-68 at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 10.

Tennessee is back home Saturday hosting Missouri in a 6 p.m. ET start (TV: SEC Network) then turns its attention to No. 4 Alabama for the February 15 showdown at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Vols go to Kentucky on February 18 and Texas A&M on February 21, then host South Carolina on February 25 and Arkansas on February 28 to close the month. 

The regular-season schedule ends with a return trip to Auburn on March 4.