KNOXVILLE – Last year, Tennessee went into its regular-season finale at Auburn with a chance to win at least a share of what would have been the Volunteers’ second consecutive Southeastern Conference basketball championship.
The Tigers outlasted Tennessee, 84-80.
Eight days later, with the Vols fresh off an emotional 82-78 win over Kentucky in the SEC tournament semifinals, they faced Auburn in Nashville, again with championship implications. However, the Tigers prevailed again, too, knocking down 15 3-pointers and routing the Vols 84-64 to set up an NCAA tournament run that ended with Auburn’s first Final Four appearance and a 63-62 loss to Virginia, which went on to beat Texas Tech in the title game.
“They’re good. They’re a good team,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Thursday of this season’s Tigers. “They were a Final Four team last year. They’re good.”
They were a thorn in Tennessee’s side last season. Can Tennessee return the favor Saturday?
The Vols (15-11, 7-6) visit the 13th-ranked Tigers (22-4, 9-4) at noon Eastern, with CBS televising the game. Auburn will come to Knoxville to close the regular season on March 7.
The Vols are coming off a 65-61 win over Vanderbilt on Tuesday, while Auburn (22-4, 9-4) is coming off back-to-back road losses to Missouri and Georgia, falling into a three-way tie with LSU (18-8 overall) and Florida (17-9) for second in the SEC standings, two games behind No. 10 Kentucky (11-2).
Tennessee is tied for seventh with Texas A&M (13-12), which defeated Tennessee 63-58 on Jan. 28 in Knoxville.
Here are three keys for the Vols to earn the win at Auburn:
1. Defend on the perimeter: Auburn knocked down 28 shots from 3-point range in last season’s two meetings with the Vols. One reason the Tigers succeeded was the makeup of Tennessee’s roster, which was built for physicality and not as much to face an opponent that had big men who could shoot. This season, Tennessee’s roster is more versatile and better suited to defend on the perimeter against the Tigers, who aren’t shooting nearly as well and try to score a lot either in transition or by breaking down the defense.
2. Maintain this, improve that: Tennessee’s offense has been solid this season in the half-court game; Auburn’s defense has been average – and worse later in the shot clock, when the Vols have been even better. If the Vols don’t turn the ball over – and that’s been a problem at times this season – they should be able to get shots they want.
3. Transition well: The Vols being better in the half-court game doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try to find chances to score easy points in transition. Barnes has implored freshman guards Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James to run and play at a faster pace, because Tennessee shoots nearly 50% from the field in transition opportunities, but the Vols don’t take advantage of those opportunities all that often. For the Vols to have a chance to steal a win on the road, they’ll need all the easy points they can manage, and if they can get an easy dunk or basket, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.