KNOXVILLE – The Auburn Tigers possessed the best basketball player Saturday afternoon inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Tennessee Volunteers had the more impressive team.
Tennessee’s home winning streak is now at 16 games after the No. 17 Vols rallied from an 11-point deficit early in the second half to down No. 3 Auburn 67-62, overcoming a 27-point performance by potential top overall NBA draft pick Jabari Smith. The Vols countered Smith’s showing by outrebounding the Tigers 54-31 and posting a 19-5 advantage in bench points.
“I told our guys that if they got it going on defense, we’ll get this crowd in the game,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said after halting a six-game losing streak to Bruce Pearl’s Tigers. “I don’t know if I’ve ever alluded to a crowd in my whole career, and I don’t know why I did it today, but I did say that during a timeout.
“I told them if they turned it up on the defensive end and made some things happen that this place would come to life, and it did.”