If anyone was looking for the since trampled barricades that were supposedly meant to control a mob of ‘College GameDay’ ready fans on Saturday morning, they may had been placed above the Neville Arena rims.
In an era in which scoring has never been more prevalent in college basketball, or basketball in general, the first half of Auburn’s top ten showdown with No. 6 Tennessee featured just 42 total points. [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], who came into the contest shooting 29% from 3-point range before a week-long absence, managed the only make from beyond the arc by either team in the first 20 minutes.
Along with the triple, Broome contributed a team-leading 9 points in the first frame. No other Tiger had more than 5 points, with [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag], [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag], and [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] providing the only other baskets of the half for Auburn. Tennessee’s production wasn’t any better, as the Volunteers shot an atrocious 23% from the field before hitting the half time locker room.
Auburn’s “rock fight” with ‘Rocky Top’ continued into the first few minutes of the second half, with both teams infrequently trading buckets until the score knotted up at 33 entering the under 12 media timeout. The seesaw nature of Saturday’s showdown continued through the remainder of the half, albeit with increased offensive efficiency, mainly due to the contributions of both backcourts.
Tennessee senior [autotag]Zakai Zeigler[/autotag] was the star down the stretch for Rick Barnes’s squad, finishing with a team-high 14 points, which may have been much more if the referees refilled their contact prescription. Chad Baker-Mazara, [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag], Chaney Johnson and [autotag]Miles Kelly[/autotag] all contributed important points down the stretch on the Auburn side, although most of the heavy lifting was done by Johni Broome, who finished with a game-high 16 points and 13 rebounds.
It was Broome, and Miles Kelly, who would outduel Zeigler in the end though. After Tennessee grabbed a late two-possesion lead with just over a minute remaining, Auburn was able to storm back thanks to a nifty floater by freshman Tahaad Pettiford followed by an incredibly timely go-ahead, corner 3-point shot by Kelly. The Georgia Tech transfer, who’s eventual game-winning shot was only his second field goal of the night, sent ‘The Jungle’ into an absolute frenzy with 30 seconds remaining.
Tennessee would go on to have an empty possession, leading to an Auburn rebound and a 1/2 trip at the free throw stripe from Pettiford. Zeigler would then be given a chance to win the game, missing a corner three long before Johni Broome heaved his thirteenth rebound of the night down the floor to milk the remaining seconds on the game clock.
Auburn’s victory was possibly it’s hardest fought, and most well-earned, of the season to this point. The Tigers now have a program-best 8 ranked victories on the year to go along with a college basketball-best 11 ‘Quad 1’ wins. Bruce Pearl’s team is all-but certain to hang onto its No. 1 AP and Coaches Poll ranking going into Wednesday’s road contest with LSU.
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