NASHVILLE | Auburn's attempted comeback late in the second half fell just short as the Tigers fell, 70-65, to Tennessee in the semifinals of the 2025 SEC Tournament.
"Tennessee is a great team," Bruce Pearl said. "They play the right way. They're worthy of defeating us. We have to do a better job defensively. The last time we played them, they scored 51 points. Tonight they scored 70."
After a low-scoring affair in the first half of the matchup in Auburn during the regular season, both offenses came out on fire, trading baskets as Tennessee took a seven-point lead on a layup from Zakai Zeigler.
Auburn answered with a 10-0 run starting at the 7:24 mark as Broome hit a jumper, followed by a basket by Miles Kelly before two more buckets by Broome. Dylan Cardwell then stole the ball and went half the court for a dunk to give the Tigers a 29-26 lead. Pearl's squad entered the locker room leading 33-32.
Two free throws by Broome and Denver Jones, plus a jumper from Broome, gave Auburn a five-point lead early in the second half. The Vols responded with a 9-2 run before Kelly hit a three to put the Tigers back up 46-45.
Tennessee came back with an 8-0 run over two minutes and 36 seconds to take a 55-48 lead, forcing Pearl to call a timeout with 8:17 left. The Vols kept their foot on the gas, pushing the lead to 60-49 and holding Auburn without a field goal for five minutes and 16 seconds until Cardwell put in a layup off a nice pass from Broome.
Trailing by 12, the Tigers went on a quick 8-0 run to cut the lead to four, causing Rick Barnes to call for a timeout. A Broome bucket made it a two-point game.
After a Tennessee turnover, Broome had a chance to tie it but missed a layup. An offensive board and basket put Tennessee back up by four. After a Jones free throw, Jordan Gainey scored to put the Vols up by five. Chad Baker-Mazara cut the lead to three, and, after a defensive stop, Broome went to the line for two shots. He missed both, and Tennessee got the ball with 28.7 left.
The Tigers forced a jump ball, getting the ball back, and Baker-Mazara had a good look at a three to tie the game, but it bounced out, and the Vols got the ball back with 14.8 seconds to go. Jahmai Mashack hit two free throws to extend the lead to five to seal the game for the Vols.
Auburn finished 13-of-22 from the free throw line, with Broome missing seven of his 12 attempts. Tennessee's bench outscored Auburn's 25-3, and the Vols shot 25-of-27 from the charity stripe, including 18-of-20 in the second half.
"We fouled them too much," Pearl said. "That's not a comment about the officiating. The officiating was fine.They scored 37% of their points at the foul line. That's on us. We didn't convert some inside shots and some free throws and some things like that that you have to in order to win a close game."
Broome led the Tigers with 23 points, with Kelly adding 13 and Jones with 10. Zeigler led Tennessee with 20 points. Gainey put up 15.
Auburn now awaits to hear its seeding and where they will play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
