Tennessee Basketball Falls Short at No. 1 Auburn

The Vols were right there but could not make the winning play on the road at No. 1 Auburn.

Jan 25, 2025; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Auburn Tigers guard Miles Kelly (13) blocks a shot against Tennessee Volunteers guard Chaz Lanier (2) during the first half at Neville Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images | John Reed-Imagn Images

The Vols were right there but could not make the winning play on the road at No. 1 Auburn.

Tennessee allowed a late 3-pointer that ended up being the difference in a hard fought 53-51 loss to No. 1 Auburn on Saturday night in A rowdy Neville Arena.

Chaz Lanier finished with 10 points and was 2-6 from 3-point range. Zakai Zeigler added 14 points and Jordan Gainey had eight off the bench. Neither team could find the stroke from long range as Auburn just went 3-20 from deep and Tennessee was 4-22.

JohnI Broome ended up playing through his ankle injury and made a huge impact with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

The game started with both teams struggling to score. After five minutes, the Vols trailed 4-2 and had not made a field goal yet. Felix Okpara hit the Vols’ first field goal on a lob dunk from Zeigler. With 11:54 to play in the half, Tennessee had five turnovers and had given up five offensive rebounds.

Lanier tied the game with a dunk in transition with nine minutes to play. The Tigers led 16-10 after three made free throws. The Vols responded with a 6-0 run to tie the game with 3:56 to play in the half. Auburn led 22-20 at the half after 20 minutes of brutal basketball.

Jahmai Mashack made an incredible play to save the ball after a steal and that led to a Lanier dunk. Mashack then hit two free throws and had a put-back to give the Vols a 28-26 lead with 15:52 remaining.

The Tigers took the lead back after an and-one layup made it 31-30. Lanier finally hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 33-33. It was the Vols’ first made triple of the game. Jordan Gainey hit a corner three and then found Okapara for a lob to give Tennessee a 38-37 lead with 8:09 to play.

Auburn led 45-40 after two more free throws but then Zeigler answered with a layup and then Gainey hit a triple to tie it up with 4:30 to go. Lanier hit his second 3-pointer of the game to give the Vols a 48-47 lead with 2:58 to play.

Zeigler got to the line and hit both and then Mashack hit one of two to make it 51-47. Auburn countered with a made floater. Miles Kelly hit a go-ahead 3-pointer that proved to be the deciding shot for the Tigers.

Zeigler missed a potential game winning 3-pointer to end the Vols’ chances.

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