Tennessee hangs on to beat Auburn, advances to the SEC Championship

What a game.

Tennessee-Auburn part two didn’t disappoint. The Volunteers and Tigers battled — and I do mean battled — for the right to play in the SEC Championship game on Sunday. In the end, it was Tennessee coming out on top.

A wild opening half

A ridiculously hot start highlighted the first half with both sides connecting on their first four shots of the game. Two of those shots were three-pointers from Chaz Lanier, who was feeling it early on in his hometown. It was a far cry from the rock fight we saw in Auburn several weeks ago, but the pace eventually would slow down.

Tennessee built a 26-19 lead midway through the first half, but Auburn would fight back with an 10-0 run to claim the lead. The Volunteers were struggling to keep Johni Broome out of the paint, and the All-American post was getting anything he wanted.

Nine points off Tennessee turnovers and Broome’s work in the paint gave Auburn a one-point advantage at the halftime break.

Tennessee works through foul trouble to take control

Zakai Zeigler picked up his third foul quickly to open the second half, forcing him to the bench. The door was open for Auburn to take some control, and Broome pushed the Tigers out to a six point advantage. It was a critical sequence for the Vols, but they survived it by attacking the rim. Jordan Gainey and Jahmai Mashack each hit two from the stripe, then Gainey drilled a three to tie it at 43.

Zeigler checked back in with 14 minutes to play. A flurry of Auburn fouls would get Tennessee into the bonus with over 13 minutes left.

Speaking of fouls, Igor Milicic picked up his fourth out of the under-12 break. Darlinstone Dubar entered in his place and immediately drove for a tough bucket. That sparked a major 8-0 run for Tennessee with Johni Broome on the bench. Auburn had no answers on offense, while Tennessee found big buckets from Cade Phillips and Lanier.

Tennessee held a 55-48 lead with 8:17 to play. Physical play continued and Tennessee kept making their living at the free throw stripe. Zeigler then hit a dagger three to extend the lead out to 60-49. It was officially gut-check time for Auburn with 6:49 left.

Auburn roars back to life

Chad Baker-Mazara kept Auburn alive with a huge three, then Broome got to the line to hit two. It was also the fourth foul on Felix Okpara. A five-second call on Tennessee gave Auburn another shot, and Miles Kelly knocked down a three.

Just like that it was back to a four point game. A suddenly-sloppy Tennessee couldn’t get out of its own way. Back to back to back turnovers fueled Auburn’s 10-0 run to get right back in it.

Tennessee held a 64-62 lead with under four minutes to play.

Phillips and Gainey would extend the lead before Baker-Mazara hit a layup to cut it back to 68-65. A wild sequence filled with multiple reviews finally saw the ball get in to Mashack, who was immediately fouled.

Mashack hit two to ice it. Tennessee went on to win 70-65.

The Volunteers ended up hitting 25-27 from the free throw stripe. Auburn hit just 13-22 — that ended up being the difference.

Zeigler led the way for Tennessee with 20 points. Gainey added 15 while Lanier scored 12. Broome’s 23 points came up short for Auburn, thanks in part to his 5-12 mark from the free throw line.

Tennessee advances to face the winner of Florida-Alabama tomorrow in the SEC Championship.