Miles Kelly buried the game-winning 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining to push No. 1 Auburn to a thrilling 53-51 win over No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday in Auburn, Ala.
Johni Broome scored 16 points off the bench in his return from injury, making 7 of 19 attempts from the field after missing Auburn’s previous two games with what appeared to be a severe ankle sprain. Chaney Johnson finished with 10 points for the Tigers (18-1, 6-0 Southeastern Conference), while Chad Baker-Mazara added seven points despite suffering an injury scare himself after taking a hard fall in the first half.
Zakai Zeigler led Tennessee with 14 points, making 4 of 15 attempts from the field while grabbing six rebounds and dishing five assists. Chaz Lanier added 10 points and Felix Okpara led the Volunteers (17-3, 4-3) with nine rebounds.
Lanier gave Tennessee a 48-47 lead with 3:10 remaining on his second 3-pointer of the game, courtesy of an assist by Zeigler. Okpara started the sequence with a timely block on Broome. Tennessee extended its lead to 51-47 with a 6-0 run, but Auburn ended the game with a 6-0 run of its own.
The game was a rock fight from the opening tip. The teams started the game a combined 1 of 14 from the field overall and combined to shoot 1 of 21 (4.8 percent) from 3-point range in the first half. Auburn managed to take a 22-20 lead into the locker room at halftime, as Tennessee missed all eleven of its 3-point attempts and made just 7 of 25 attempts (28 percent) from the field overall.
A hobbled Broome was Auburn’s lone bright spot in the first half, scoring nine points on 4-of-10 shooting despite Auburn’s own abysmal 7-of-32 (21.9 percent) performance from the field overall.
Auburn finished the game with 18 field goals on 58 attempts (31 percent), going 3 of 20 (15.0 percent) from beyond the arc. Tennessee was 17 of 54 from the field (31.5 percent) and 4 of 22 from deep (18.2 percent).
–Field Level Media
