KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Josiah-Jordan James scored 15 points to lead No. 2 Tennessee to a 46-43 over No. 25 Auburn Saturday in a game in which every point was difficult and nothing flowed.
The Volunteers (19-4, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) shot just 27% from the field and 9.5% from the 3-point line. They were recovering from a Wednesday loss to Florida in which they shot 28%.
The Tigers (17-6, 7-3) were led by Johni Broome with 11 points and K.D. Johnson off the bench with 10 points. LSU managed only 24% from the field and 11% from the 3-point line.
Jaylin Williams made two free throws with 2:47 to play cut Tennessee’s lead to 40-38. Santiago Vescovi hit his first 3-pointer of the game and got a four-point play out of it for a 44-38 lead. A 3-pointer by Wendell Green Jr. cut the advantage to 44-41 with 30 seconds left.
A turnover on the inbounds play gave Auburn the ball with 23 seconds to play. Broome got a tip-in to make it a one-point game, and Zakai Zeigler made two free throws.
Green’s last-second 3-point to tie clanked out.
Auburn scored eight straight points to start the game. Tennessee followed with a six-point run and an eight-point spurt early in the second half. Those were the longest runs of the game.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Tennessee was in the No. 2 spot in the poll for two days before falling at Florida. Under coach Rick Barnes, the Vols now have 25 wins over teams ranked in the Top 25. … Auburn had been clinging to the elite at No. 25 this week. The Tigers have been ranked as high as No. 11 in the fifth week of the season.
STAT SNACKS
Since statistics started being kept in 1999-2000, Tennessee is on pace to be the all-time leader in field-goal percentage (.348, Stanford, 1999-2000, is second .352) and 3-point defense (.225, Norfolk State 2004-05, .253 is second). … Through 22 games, the similarities between last year’s Vols point guard Kennedy Chandler (now with the Memphis Grizzlies) and this year’s Zakai Ziegler are striking (points per game: Chandler 13.5, Ziegler 11.4; rebounds: 3.0, 3.0; assists: 4.95, 5.05).
UP NEXT
Auburn: The Tigers will host Texas A&M on Tuesday night.
Tennessee: The Vols will tackle in-state rival Vanderbilt in Nashville on Wednesday.
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