KNOXVILLE, TN – No. 11 Auburn (21-7,10-5) visited Rocky Top, the home of the Tennessee Volunteers (22-6, 12-3), who came into Wednesday's night clash ranked No. 4 in the country. The atmosphere did not disappoint and was a huge factor in this game. Auburn, who plays their home games in a arena almost three times smaller than the twenty-one thousand-seat Food City arena reacted well to the big stage, they called their first timeout that really related to the noise late in the second half meaning they got along well before that and even kept their composure after the timeout.
The back-and-forth affair was led by Tennessee for much of the first half but coming out of halftime Auburn took advantage of a lackluster stretch for the Vols where they made 2-10 FGs, and made 6-8 FGs to swing the game in their favor. From that point forward it was a back-and-forth game with several ties and lead changes. Until Dalton Knecht took over the game in the middle of the second half and the Vols didn’t look back.
“He made a lot of tough shot," Auburn head Coach Bruce Pearl said about Dalton Knecht. “There were times I thought we could offer more resistance off ball."
Dalton Knecht made sure to make his presence known in this one as he took over the game in the second half. The transfer from Nothern Colorado went on a run scoring 21 of the Vol's 25 points in that stretch to storm all the way back and hold onto a lead. Knecht 5-for-8 from three a 62% clip. Knecht ended with 39 points, 27 of which he scored in the second half alone.
"We sent the double a couple times we got a turnover,” Pearl said. “We sent a double they passed out of it and got a dunk.”
Johni Broome was the man who kept Auburn fighting even as the Vols began to pull away late. He had 23 points on a very efficient 9-16 from the field including 2-for-5 from beyond the arc. Broome made his presence known inside as well with a game-high nine rebounds. The center also led the team in assists with five, meaning he led the Tigers in all three major stat categories.
“He got fouled everytime we threw it to him,” Pearl said. "He's clearly one of the best players in the league and one of the best centers in the country.”
Auburn shot 46% from the field and 41% from beyond the arc. Two incredible numbers that in almost any other situation would be good enough for a win. The Vols however somehow topped that shooting 53% from the field a ridiculous number against the defensive prowess of Auburn and a whopping 51% from beyond the arc.
“We made 9 we shot 40% we scored 84 points I can't really fault our offense,” Pearl said. “We did turn the ball over too much to have 20 assists on 27 buckets in pretty good basketball.”
The Tigers stuck with what worked for them all season and that is moving guys in and out and getting the bench points, outlasting the other team with fresh legs late. The Tigers had eight guys in double-digit minutes and one who played nine. The Tigers bench outscored the Vols 27-18 but it wasn’t enough late as the Vols had enough gas in the tank to outlast the Tigers after their late resurgence.
The Tigers will be back in action Saturday when they host Mississippi State for a 3 p.m. CT. The game will be streaming on ESPN in conjunction with the Auburn Sports Network.
