The Good, Bad, and Ugly: Tennessee vs. Auburn
Tennessee just wrapped up their game against the Auburn Tigers, one of their biggest in-conference rivals in college basketball. There was a lot on the line in this game as Tennessee continues to try to extend their lead for the SEC 1st seed in conference tournament play, and they push to be a No. 1 seed in March Madness. This game ended in great fashion for the Volunteers as they defeated the Auburn Tigers at home and went into the Alabama game with great momentum as the #4 ranked team nationally. The final score of this game was 92-84, and there were many important notes from the game. Here is what we got for Wednesday's midweek performance: the good, bad, and ugly.
The Good
Dalton Knecht was a man amongst boys in Wednesday's performance. He was the shining star per usual, but this time, he put up a season-high 39 points, of which 25 points came in the remaining 11 minutes of the game as the Volunteers were trailing by 8. He shot 5-8 from the 3-point line, which was key for the Volunteers as he put up an elite performance in the game's biggest moments. This was overall magical and unbelievable to watch.
The Bad
Jordan Gainey did not perform well, shooting 1-6 from the field. This wasn't enough to change the game's outcome, but it would have helped if he could've been more consistent in shooting the ball. Zakai Zeigler also struggled shooting free throws a bit, which was later fixed percentage, but he could not get it going early on. This is something to consider; however, this shouldn't concern any Tennessee fan.
The Ugly
The Volunteers were in foul trouble all night. Santiago Vescovi and Jonas Aidoo were both in foul trouble in which Aidoo fouled out in the game's final minutes. The Volunteers also turned the ball over more than they would like, as they were beating 15 turnovers on the night. They will need to fix this a bit moving forward, especially in big games like Saturday's matchup.
Tennessee Volunteers HC Rick Barnes with Auburn Tigers HC Bruce Pearl after the game on Wednesday. (Photo by Randy Sartin of USA Today Sports)
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