UT Athletics Department
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Volunteers rolled to victory over the Auburn Tigers, 97-59, in the first round of the SEC Men’s Tournament Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena.
UT (14-18, 6-12 SEC) never trailed the Tigers (11-20, 5-13 SEC), leading by as much as 41 points in the final minute of the game. Tennessee now improves to 9-3 all time against Auburn during the SEC Tournament.
Senior Armani Moore led the Vols, scoring a game-high 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting and adding four rebounds, five assists and a block in 29 minutes of play.
Sophomore Detrick Mostella was the Vols’ second leading scorer with 17 points. Mostella broke out of a slump after only scoring in double digits once in his last seven games. It was the 10th time this season that he had scored at least 10 when coming off the bench.
TJ Dunans, who finished with 17 points and four rebounds, led Auburn. Tyler Harris, the brother of VFL Tobias Harris, scored 14 points while grabbing nine boards for the Tigers.
Tennessee will face the 5th-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in the second round of the SEC Tournament Thursday at 3:30pm ET/2:30pm CT at Bridgestone Arena on the SEC Network.
Detrick Mostella Breaks Slump
After being held to single digits in six of his last seven games, Detrick Mostella was the second leading scorer for the Volunteers with 17 points. It was also the 10th time this season he scored double digits after coming off the bench.
Vols’ Offense Catches Fire
After struggling to find consistent offense during a four-game losing streak, UT caught on fire from the floor, shooting a season-high 59 percent. Tennessee also had four different players score in double figures in the game.
Up Next for the Vols
Tennessee will play Vanderbilt in the second round of the SEC Men’s Tournament Thursday at 3:30pm ET/2:30pm CT at Bridgestone Arena.
The Commodores swept the Vols during the regular season. UT is 8-1 against Vandy in the tournament, including last year’s 13-point comeback victory in the second round.
