Kennedy Chandler scored 13 points, including a key floater in the lane with 35 seconds left, as No. 17 Tennessee rallied from 11 points down in the second half for a 67-62 Southeastern Conference victory over No. 3 Auburn on Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.
Santiago Vescovi scored nine of his 14 points in the final seven minutes, and Zakai Zeigler added 13 points and three steals as Tennessee (21-7, 12-4) snapped a six-game losing streak against Auburn and improved to 15-0 at home. The Volunteers also tightened the race in the SEC, pulling within a game of first-place Auburn (25-4, 13-3) and tying No. 6 Kentucky (23-6, 12-4) and No. 18 Arkansas (23-6, 12-4) for second.
Tennessee shot only 32.8 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers. But the Volunteers dominated the boards, 54-31, behind Josiah-Jordan James (10 points, nine rebounds), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (five points, eight rebounds) and John Fulkerson (five points, nine rebounds).
It was the third straight road loss for Auburn. The Tigers were led by Jabari Smith who had 27 points and eight rebounds. K.D. Johnson added 18 for the Tigers.
Smith made a sensational four-point play with 58 seconds left to get Auburn within 63-60. But Chandler followed with his clutch shot, and Vescovi made two free throws with 15 seconds remaining.
The Tigers were up 39-28 early in the second half before the Vols used a 17-2 burst to take the lead for good. Huntley-Hatfield started the run with a 3-pointer and Chandler finished it with back-to-back layups. Zeigler added a 3-pointer during the run, which gave the Vols a 45-41 lead.
Vescovi hit a 3-pointer with 6:24 left and James followed with another. Vescovi and Zeigler then combined to make seven straight free throws in a 7-0 run that gave Tennessee its biggest lead, 60-49 with 4:03 to go.
In the first half, Tennessee bolted to an 18-11 lead with Uros Plavsic delivering six points and James adding five. But then the Volunteers went cold, missing their next eight shots. Auburn took advantage with a 13-0 run that Johnson started with four quick points and finished with a 3-pointer to put the Tigers ahead 26-19. Smith’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left gave Auburn a 31-25 lead at halftime.
–Field Level Media
