Auburn wins, 84-65.

Auburn now is 26-9 overall and the reigning SEC Tournament champions.

AUBURN BY THE NUMBERS
2FG: 11-of-24 (46%)
3FG: 15-of-40 (38%)
FT: 17-of-21 (81%)

Auburn grabbed more rebounds, 39-33.

Auburn is 17-1 this season when winning the rebounding battle.

TENNESSEE BY THE NUMBERS
2FG: 15-of-36 (42%)
3FG: 8-of-15 (53%)
FT: 10-of-13 (77%)

MY AUBURN PLAYER OF THE GAME
F Chuma Okeke: 18 points (6-of-13 shooting), 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block

FROM THE TENNESSEE SIDE

"I haven't really kept up with Auburn's games before this. We do what we did with the scouting. The fact is — we weren't very good today. You've got to give Auburn credit for that. You think about it ... we did so many things uncharacteristic. I think they played one more game than we did. What have they played? Four?" — Tennessee coach Rick Barnes

FROM THE AUBURN SIDE

• This is Auburn's first SEC Tournament title since 1985.

• The biggest takeaway here? Just that Auburn actually won. Bruce Pearl and his staff and his players have been talking for years about getting better one day at a time, one game at a time, and focusing on overall improvement. The program was dormant when Pearl arrived. Recruiting good players is just part of the challenge. This coaching staff then had to make those trust in their strategy and then play with a championship level of confidence. It all came together on March 17, 2019, when the Tigers dominated a very good Tennessee team to win their first March tournament in 34 years. This game was characterized by creating turnovers, valuing possessions, pushing the tempo in transition just as you'd expect from Auburn. This game also was characterized by Auburn bullying its way into a rebounding advantage against a tall, physical, talented opponent. This was one of those game Auburn people will remember for a long time. Pearl just hopes it isn't too long; he believes the Tigers can reach even bigger heights.

• Auburn's plan on the scoring end looked dismantled after three minutes. PG Jared Harper picked up a second foul, which necessitated the substitution of PG J'Von McCormick at the point. The junior-college transfer has grown into a competent backup during the past two months or so, but his job here would be much tougher. Pearl needed McCormick to take command of the attack and keep things together until Harper could return at some point after the 10-minute mark or so. McCormick defied those expectations in a big way, however, as the Tigers turned a small deficit into a 13-point advantage during the next 15 minutes. With McCormick driving downhill and looking for perimeter shooters — the same thing Harper wold have ben asked to do — the Tigers focused in a big way. They avoided turnovers, created plenty. And shots that clanged off the back iron early began finding the mark.

• Life without Harper on the floor wasn't tough. "We all trust 'Von to do his job. We all trust each other," forward Malik Dunbar said. "We take a lot of pride in there being no drop-off. Next guy up has to be as good or better than the first guy. That's what 'Von did. He's just doing what we do at Auburn."

• McCormick finished with a season-high 23 minutes. He scored five points, dished out four assists and was turned over just once. "Coach Pearl kept telling me that the day was coming when he'd need be to be the man," McCormick said on the Bridgestone Arena floor as confetti cascaded around him. "We all know (Harper) is a great player. I know it, too. I just kept working because I knew there would be a day, you know? I guess today was that day."

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• Pearl could have subbed Harper back into the game at some point later in the first half. Harper has exquisite body control and his defensive assignments (generally) don't put him in the kinds of difficult defensive situations faced almost every possession by the Tigers' post players. Yet Pearl didn't make that substitution. He stuck with McCormick because everything was working, the lead was growing, the scoring-end operation administrated competently.

• Pearl on that decision: "It may have been a blessing. I was planning on playing Jared a maximum of 32 minutes. (McCormick) had to carry the ball and he did — did a great job. We knew J'Von could get downhill against Tennessee. It was going to be a for Tennessee's bigger guards to stay in front."

• The old axiom was that Auburn couldn't win if Harper played poorly. He finished Sunday with nine points, but he was 1-of-11 from the floor. Still, he didn't let the shooting (and foul) woes wreck his day. He valued the ball — six assists versus two turnovers — and remained a calm, rational, optimistic leader for his team. He couldn't compartmentalize like that last season.

• Excellent play at point guard was a big part of this victory, but that doesn't tell the entire story. Auburn has struggled to rebound against the good teams this season. That group clearly includes Tennessee. The Tigers' recipe for success in Nashville has been creating turnovers and pressing tempo as a way of overcoming rebounding deficits. Yet against the Vols, Auburn finished with a six-rebound advantage. F Chuma Okeke was the primary reason for that — the sophomore finished with six offensive rebounds, seven defensive rebounds. Malik Dunbar added six rebounds. Even C Austin Wiley, who played just nine minutes, added three rebounds to the total. Pearl told his team that it could not allow Tennessee to bully them. That didn't happen.

• Weird tournament for F/C Anfernee McLemore, who added 0 points, two rebounds and four fouls during his 11 minutes. The junior finished with nine total points and three rebounds in Nashville despite logging 51 minutes. His primary job is to draw opposing bigs out of the paint, which helps this team create space on the scoring end. And he definitely accomplishes that (meager) goal, but an experienced 6-foot-7 forward should offer more. I don't understand him as a player anymore. We remember what he was before the injury, you know?

• G Bryce Brown, the SEC Tournament MVP, scored 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He can be a difficult player to appreciate because he just goes about his business and you don't even realize that he's scored so many points. He struggles at times, but then he hits long balls on three consecutive possessions and then everything's fine. He averaged 16.5 points per game in Nashville. Like Harper, Brown couldn't compartmentalize earlier in his career. He definitely has that problem licked.

• Auburn resumes play Thursday against New Mexico State in Salt Lake City. That game time will be determined by CBS at a later time.