Tennessee picked up its third straight SEC win on Saturday night in Knoxville. The Vols led from the first whistle to the final whistle in a 77-69 win over Steven Pearl’s Auburn Tigers in the Food City Center. Saturday’s win comes after two straight road victories over Alabama and Georgia the past week.
Tennessee’s offense in the first few minutes of the game was the exact opposite of the weather in Knoxville – red hot. The Vols came out of the gates and knocked down some big three pointers, eventually ballooning the lead all the way up to 16 points at one point in the first 20 minutes. Auburn cut the Vols’ lead to 10 at halftime, but Tennessee was still in control.
The Tigers didn’t back down in the second half. Auburn began to hit some shots behind the play of KeShawn Hall, and wound up cutting the Vols’ lead all the way down to three points with seven minutes to play. Credit to Tennessee, though, for finding a way to stay ahead on the scoreboard and reestablishing the lead in the final minutes of the game.
Tennessee freshman Nate Ament led the Vols with 22 points. He only shot 25% from the floor, but made 12 of his 15 free throw attempts for some consistent scoring. Tennessee forward Jaylen Carey gave the Vols a big boost early in the game, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
After the game, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes and Auburn head coach Steven Pearl met with the media to discuss their thoughts on the contest. The Vols also had Ament and forward DeWayne Brown take some questions.
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Check out all three postgame interviews following Tennessee’s win over Auburn below:
Tennessee HC Rick Barnes
Auburn HC Steven Pearl
Tennessee F Nate Ament and F DeWayne Brown
