Kentucky, and especially Rhyne Howard, proved too much for Auburn in Lexington as the Wildcats prevailed 90-62 in the regular season finale.
The Tigers shot it at a 35.4% clip, while the Volunteers shot it at a 32.8% clip. However, Tennessee has a big edge in both rebounding and free throw shooting. The Volunteers outrebounded Auburn 54 to 31 and grabbed 21 offensive boards.
The losing streak in Gainesville has reached 14. No. 2 Auburn overcame an anemic first half on offense to take a second half lead, but a barrage of threes late in the second half led by Tyree Appleby gave Florida a late lead and the Gators were able to get a last second stop to preserve a 63-62 win in the Swamp.
Walker Kessler shrugged off some early first half foul trouble to record his second triple-double of the season. Kessler becomes one of just five players in the history of the SEC to record multiple career triple-doubles.
Auburn (22-1, 10-0 SEC) led by as many as 15 in the first half, but the Bulldogs shot the ball at a 58.1% clip in the final 20 minutes to get back in it and neither team led by more than four points for the final 15:52 of the game.
Vanderbilt used a 22-2 run in the first quarter to take a double-digit lead, stretched their lead to 25 by halftime, and cruised in the second half to an 81-66 win.
Auburn improves to 9-10 (1-7 SEC) on the season, while Tennessee falls to 18-2 (7-1 SEC). Following the Tigers biggest home win in years, the Jungle stormed the court to celebrate with their team at midcourt.
For the second time in as many games, No. 18 Auburn (6-2, 3-1 SEC) took down a ranked SEC West foe.
Coming off their bye week, the No. 18 Auburn Tigers (5-2, 2-1 SEC) will look to continue their momentum established in a 15-point road win over Arkansas when they play host to No. 10 Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1 SEC).
No. 23 Auburn (10-3-0, 4-2-0 SEC) will look to stay undefeated at home in SEC play this Sunday when they play host to the Florida Gators (3-8-3, 2-3-1 SEC).
Solutions by The State News
