AUBURN — The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team let a potential key Southeastern Conference road victory slip away Saturday afternoon.
The Vols blew a 17-point second-half lead and lost 73-66 to Auburn.
Tennessee (15-12 overall, 7-7 in the SEC) had a 54-37 advantage in the second half before the Tigers (23-4, 10-4) came storming back thanks to an 18-0 run that helped them take a 55-54 lead with 7 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the game.
Auburn has now won 21 games after trailing by double digits in coach Bruce Pearl’s tenure on The Plains.
The Tigers, however, received help from Tennessee, which committed 24 turnovers that led to 27 points by Auburn.
The Vols had a 41-33 lead at halftime and saw their advantage balloon to 54-37 before collapsing.
Senior and Knoxville native Jordan Bowden scored a career-high 28 points. He also had six assists and four rebounds.
But that was not enough for the Vols to end a losing streak to its former coach. Pearl has now beaten Tennessee four consecutive times and has a 7-4 edge in head-to-head meetings against UT coach Rick Barnes.
While in Knoxville, Pearl beat Barnes twice against Texas teams that included future NBA stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Durant.
On Saturday, Samir Doughty had 22 points for the Tigers.