No. 17 Tennessee clinched a double BYE in the Southeastern Conference Tournament as it notched a comeback victory over No. 4 Auburn Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tennessee (21-7, 12-4 SEC) overcame an double-figure deficit to defeat the Tigers (25-4, 13-3 SEC) and former Vols’ head coach Bruce Pearl, 67-62.
With the win, Tennessee continued its perfect home record intact and ended a six-game winning streak against Auburn.
Junior guard Santiago Vescovi led a balanced Tennessee scoring attack with 14 points, including nine in the second half. He was one of three Vols to post double figures in the scoring column.
Zakai Zeigler and Kennedy Chandler scored 13 points each and Josiah-Jordan James had 10 points for Tennessee, which trailed, 31-25, at halftime before the Tigers extended their advantage to 39-28 early in the second half.
The Vols outrebounded Auburn, 58-35, and finished with 25 offensive rebounds in the contest.
Jabari Smith had a game-high 27 points for the Tigers and K.D. Johnson added 18.
James and John Fulkerson had nine rebounds each for the Vols. Fulkerson scored five points.
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