Takeaways from Auburn basketball's 67-62 loss to No. 17 Tennessee

Auburn has suffered yet another close road loss, this time in Knoxville against the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers.

The Tigers kept the game close up until the final few minutes before poor decision making and the inability to shoot from deep caught up to Auburn.

On a positive note, Auburn (25-4, 13-3 SEC) is still in the drivers seat in the SEC. They ned to win their final two games (at Mississippi State, vs South Carolina) to clinch the regular season title.

If Bruce Pearl & Co. and turn things around here to end the regular season, I'm sure fans will feel much more confident heading into March.

Here are five takeaways from Auburn vs Tennessee.

Auburn is capable of making a run in March... but how far?

Auburn's inability to shoot well from beyond the arc has really hindered their offense during the back half of conference play. The defense has been good, but can't carry the Tigers to a title if the guard play is going to continue to be subpar.

I'm curious to see what Coach Pearl does to try and get Auburn ready for the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.

Auburn struggled to finish at the rim at times

The Tigers went 13-of-20 on layups, which on the surface isn't terrible. However, there were several point-blank shots that Auburn missed that were not contested.

If the three point shot isn't going to fall, Auburn needs to at least make their open layups.

Shot selection continues to be an issue

Wendell Green Jr. has an incredibly high upside, don't get me wrong. He occasionally makes some questionable decisions on offense that really make it difficult for the Tigers to get into rhythm. He is not the only player guilty of this.

In no world can you ask your team to play a perfect game, but it is fair to ask them to make some better choices when it comes to shooting in the half court offense.

Auburn was out-worked on the boards

Auburn got out-rebounded 54-31, and 21-11 on the offensive glass. It's uncharacteristic, considering Auburn had out-rebounded their last 11 opponents.

According to Coach Pearl, there was no excuse for the lack of intensity on the boards against the Vols. The Tigers simply can't let it happen again.

Jabari Smith's passion and effort is incredible... but there's one issue

Smith finished with 27 points off of 9-of-21 shooting. He also added 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. He was the only Tiger to finish the game with a positive plus-minus (+4).

My only complaint with Jabari Smith is with his occasional attitude issues. Smith received his third technical of the season (one against Syracuse, one against UCF) for bad-mouthing a Tennessee player after a rebound.

Auburn was up 35-28 at that point in the game. It was not the technical that cost the Tigers in the end, but rather poor shooting and decision making. What the technical did do was kill Auburn's momentum.

Even if the call was soft, Smith needs to do a better job of controlling his emotions and not directly costing his team points as well as indirectly costing them their flow. I support Smith's passion and energy for the game, even if the officials disagree with it. What I do not support is selfishly putting the team at risk, especially in the NCAA Tournament.