AUBURN | Johni Broome wasn’t close to 100 percent but he was still the best player on the floor.

The Auburn All-American returned from his ankle injury to record the 71st double-double of his career as the top-ranked Tigers beat No. 6 Tennessee 53-51 Saturday night at Neville Arena.

"Our guys really respected that team, even after the game," said AU coach Bruce Pearl. "They knew they had a great win, because they knew they beat a great team. Those are some of the best guards that we're gonna face. Those guys don't take possessions off defensively.

"I'm sure that wasn't a very pretty game on national television, because it was so difficult to score. I knew it was going to be low-scoring. I knew that offense was going to be difficult."

Auburn improves to 18-1 overall and 6-0 in the SEC, winning a top 10 matchup at home for the first time in 66 years. It’s a program-record seventh win over a ranked opponent and 11th Quad 1 win.

Trailing by two with 30 seconds left, Miles Kelly hit a 3-pointer to give AU a one-point lead. UT’s Igor Milicic Jr. missed a layup and Tahaad Pettiford made 1 of 2 free throws to extend the lead to two points with 12 seconds left.

Zakai Zigler missed a 3-pointer with five seconds left as Auburn finished the game with a 6-0 run.

Broome came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points on 7 of 19 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds in 33 minutes. He added two assists and four blocks.

"We know that with him, we're a dangerous team," said Kelly. "That just shows a lot of his character and the type of player he is. We all believe in our players and we believe in him. It gives us the utmost confidence to come out here and perform every night."

Chaney Johnson had 10 points and four rebounds, Pettiford eight points and three steals and Chad Baker-Mazara seven points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Both teams struggled from the floor. AU shot a season-los .310 including 3 of 20 3-pointers while holding UT to .315 and 4 of 22 3-pointers.

"If you looked at the stat sheet and told me our guards were gonna shoot like that tonight, I'd say there's no chance we win. Because our guards have shot brilliantly all season long," said Pearl.

Auburn led 22-20 at the break after a physical first half where the two teams combined to shoot 1 of 21 from 3-point range. Broome led AU with nine points including the only made 3-pointer.

Auburn plays at LSU Wednesday night at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.