First-year Auburn head coach Steven Pearl started with the main point in his postgame press conference following Tennessee’s 77-69 win over the Tigers Saturday night.
“Credit Tennessee. They beat us at our own game,” Pearl said. “They pushed us around, punked us. They got to the foul line 11 more times than we did, did a really good job with attacking the paint. … They just out physical’d us and kind of had their way.”
Auburn entered the game as a top 10 offensive rebounding team nationally and the third best in the SEC behind just Tennessee and Florida. That’s how the Vols “beat Auburn” at its own game.
The Vols out-rebounded Auburn 46-30 including a 17-12 advantage on the offensive glass. Auburn found some rebounding success in the second half, totaling nine offensive rebounds. But even with that strong stretch, the Tigers totaled just a 29% offensive rebound rate— 9% lower than their season average. Compare that to Tennessee who rebounded a jarring 49% of their missed shots against Auburn.
More From RTI:How Unique Practice Prepared Tennessee Basketball For Second Half Adversity Against Auburn
Wings Bishop Boswell and Amari Evans frequently made hustle plays, totaling four offensive rebounds each, while DeWayne Brown and Jaylen Carey totaled three offensive boards each.
“They look like two SEC defensive ends out there that were just ducking in, and we just weren’t able to get around them,” Pearl said of Brown and Carey. “They were incredibly effective. And our guys really had no answer for them physically.”
Tennessee got the inside game its been searching for offensively against Auburn. Down Felix Okpara due to injury, the trio of Jaylen Carey, JP Estrella and DeWayne Brown combined for 31 points. As a team, Tennessee scored 34 points in the paint, 25 points at the foul line and won without making a three-pointer in the game’s final 35 minutes.
The Vols’ front line gave them what Rick Barnes has been looking for, and that’s how it has to be with this roster build. Tennessee does not have the roster to hit double-digit triples and score 90 points. But they can physically dominate inside. When they do, they’re tough to beat.
Tennessee has an opportunity to do that again on Tuesday night when they host an Ole Miss squad that’s the SEC’s second worst rebounding.
