Auburn fans have learned that counting out this season's Tigers against any deficit isn’t wise.
Tennessee led by as many as 17 with 14:31 remaining, sucking all the life out of Auburn Arena as the Tigers couldn’t find their footing on either end of the floor.
Samir Doughty then led a furious 18-0 run for Auburn, which reclaimed the lead and held on to defeat Tennessee on Saturday afternoon 73-66.
Auburn (23-4, 10-4 SEC) trailed by eight at the half after Tennessee shot 52% from the field and 42% from 3-point range, and the Tigers struggled to find consistent offense in the first 20 minutes. Those numbers continued to inflate for the Vols as they made their first three shots out of the break and five of their first eight.
According to Doughty, head coach Bruce Pearl's halftime pitch to his club was even more fiery than usual.
"Yeah, [Pearl] kicked everybody out of the locker room but the players," Doughty said. "So, I mean, when it gets like that, we know how serious he is. And he was passionate in what he was saying. I mean, we knew where he was coming from, the things that what he was saying. It wasn't like he just was making things up. Like, he's telling us this, and he's a certain way because we wasn't responding how we was supposed to respond. We knew we had to have a different second half."
A jumper from freshman Jaylin Williams, who turned in a career-high eight points in 15 minutes, ignited the 18-0 run. Doughty quickly followed with a triple. The senior guard scored 13 of Auburn’s 18 points during the run and 22 points for the game to go with four rebounds and three assists.
"I was just being aggressive,' Doughty said. "I really don't worry about who's defending me. I knew I had to be aggressive when we was down, and we're without [Isaac Okoro] right now, and we know that."
Williams played double-digit minutes for the second straight game after his previous high for the year was five minutes in his debut against CSUN in November. The freshman's highlight was a self-alley-oop early in the second half, but Williams was able to score from multiple spots on the floor.
"It was big because Danjel (Purifoy), he was in foul trouble," Williams said. "He had four fouls. So to me, I just had to step up with helping my teammates out."
Tennessee had the game knotted at 64 with two minutes left before Auburn freshman wing Devan Cambridge (nine points on 3-of-5 triples) sent his man flying out of bounds with a pump fake and drilled a 3-pointer from the corner.
Danjel Purifoy got a critical steal under the basket two Tennessee positions later, and J’Von McCormick made both ensuing free throws.
McCormick was also a massive pillar for Auburn's comeback. The senior had eight points, four assists and five steals to just one turnover.
"That's great. We need that from him," Doughty said of McCormick's game. "We need him to be a great defender for us to win."
Auburn scored 27 points for the game off 24 Tennessee turnovers — a number that Pearl believes is a clear sign that Auburn heeded his halftime speech and played with energy and determination, particularly over the last 20 minutes.
"You turn a team over 24 times, you have 18 steals, it tells you the kind of fight and the kind of character you have," Pearl said.
Auburn next faces Ole Miss on Tuesday inside Auburn Arena.
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