On Saturday, College Gameday took a road trip to The Loveliest Village on the Plains, where the No. 1 ranked Auburn Tigers faced off against the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers in a highly anticipated SEC clash. The atmosphere was electric as fans from both sides filled the arena, eager to witness a showdown between two of the top teams in college basketball.
At the beginning of the first half, scoring was few and far between. After 10 minutes of play, the score was only 10-10. Neither team could find their rhythm, which in turn led to a lower-scoring game than usual. However, the defense was on point, which raised the intensity of the game even higher and kept the packed-out crowd engaged.
Saturday's game was the toughest yet for the Tigers, and it was rough for the Tiger offense in the first half. The first half saw Auburn in a shooting slump, hitting only seven of their 32 shots and managing to knock down just one of 10 three-point attempts. Despite these difficulties, Auburn remained in the game due to Tennessee's equally poor shooting performance on the other end.
In the first 20 minutes, Auburn was led by Johni Broome, who scored nine points. He was supported by Chad Baker-Mazara with five points, Dylan Cardwell with four, and Chaney Johnson, who also contributed four points. With poor shooting and Baker-Mazara getting up slowly after a play, the half ended with the score of 22-20 in Auburn's favor.
The second half proved to be more entertaining and competitive. Both teams engaged in a fierce battle, showcasing their offensive and defensive skills. Although shooting percentages remained lower than usual, both teams improved their performance compared to the first half. Auburn and Tennessee each scored 31 points in the second half, making it a closely contested game. The defense continued to get better, which made the second half more entertaining as well.
Auburn's shooting improved to a decent 40% overall, though their three-point shooting was still below par at 20%. Defensively, Auburn made a significant impact by blocking five shots from the Volunteers, while Tennessee managed to block only two of Auburn's attempts.
As the game neared its conclusion, a crucial play unfolded. Baker-Mazara drove to the lane and passed the ball to Broome, who missed his shot but quickly grabbed the rebound. Broome then passed the ball out to Miles Kelly, who hit a three-pointer, securing the win for the Tigers with just 30 seconds left on the clock.
After that, the Tiger defense held through with contesting Zakai Zeigler's three-point attempt to take the lead. The rebound and outlet pass from Johni Broome to Chaney Jonson got the crowd on their feet and loud to celebrate the difficult Tiger win.
With this hard-fought victory, the Tigers improved their overall record to an impressive 18-1 and remained undefeated in the SEC with a 6-0 record. Auburn's next challenge will be against LSU at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, January 29th, with tipoff at 6 p.m.
