Tennessee forward Jarnell Stokes (5) shoots over Auburn center Asauhn Dixon-Tatum (0) at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville in this file photo.KNOXVILLE – The outcome was precisely what Tennessee needed.
The path the Volunteers took to get there, though, was most uninspiring.
Between the turnovers and defensive lapses, Tennessee was far from excellent Wednesady night, but the Vols ultimately had too much for visiting Auburn and got past the pesky Tigers 78-67 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols turned it over 15 times and allowed a guard-dominated Auburn team to score nearly half its points in the paint, but coming off a second-half collapse and last-second loss to Texas A&M at the weekend with a trip to Kentucky looming on Saturday, Tennessee welcomed the victory.
“We’ll probably see it on film, but we’re not really thinking about that right now,” Tennessee guard Josh Richardson said with a smile. “I’m just glad we won.”