Nashville, TN – The fourth-seeded University of Tennessee men’s basketball team took down top-seeded Auburn, 70-65, in a top-10 showdown Saturday afternoon in the SEC Tournament semifinals at Bridgestone Arena.
No. 8/6 Tennessee (27-6, 12-6 SEC) defeated the third-ranked Tigers behind a team-high 20 points from senior guard Zakai Zeigler to reach the conference championship for the fourth time in the last seven events.
The triumph also gave the Volunteers their seventh AP top-15 win of the season, a new school record, including their fourth over a top-seven foe to tie the program’s best mark.
Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier got off to a fast start in his hometown for the second day in a row, scoring eight points and making all three of his field-goal attempts in the opening 3:23. He upped his total to 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting through 9:53, as the Volunteers took a 22-17 lead.
Tennessee stretched its first-half advantage as high as seven, 26-19, with 7:52 left in the frame. Auburn (28-5, 15-3 SEC) then held the Volunteers scoreless for 5:15, a span during which they scored 10 straight points to go up, 29-26, with 3:27 on the timer.
The Volunteers responded to twice take the lead, but the Tigers took a 33-32 edge into the locker room. Tennessee made all seven—each came from Zeigler—of its first-half free throws, while Auburn missed four of its eight, but the Volunteers got outscored 9-0 in points off turnovers, committing six and forcing two. Senior forward/center Johni Broome, the SEC Player of the Year, paced Auburn with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting, while Zeigler led Tennessee with 11 points.
The Tigers scored six straight points in 70 seconds early in the second frame to go ahead by five, 41-36, with 16:43 to play. Tennessee countered with a 9-2 burst to claim a 45-43 lead with 13:37 remaining, at which time it also entered the bonus.
Auburn countered with a 3-pointer at the other end, but Tennessee then went on an impressive 17-4 run, including scoring eight straight points in 2:28, to go ahead by a game-best 12 points, 62-50, with 7:17 to go. It held Auburn without a field goal for 5:16, forcing five straight misses, and did not even allow a point for a span of 3:38.
The Tigers soon went on a 10-0 run, featuring two 3-pointers, in just 1:39 to get the margin down to two, 64-62, with 4:10 left. However, they got no closer. Sophomore forward Cade Phillips doubled the lead with a tip-in at the 3:24 mark and then, after a free throw by Auburn, senior guard Jordan Gainey made it 68-63 on a layup with 2:23 remaining.
Auburn scored with 1:16 to play to get the margin to three and then had a chance to level the score, but missed all three of their field goals and both their free throws in the final 29 seconds. Senior guard Jahmai Mashack iced the victory by hitting two free throws with 14 seconds to play.
Zeigler finished 9-of-9 at the line, his most makes without a miss as a Volunteer, and hit four of his five shots inside the arc to reach 20 points for the 10th time as a collegian and third this year. He led all players with four assists to up his 2024-25 mark to 234 and enter the 10 on the SEC single-season list.
Gainey totaled 15 points, five rebounds and a perfect 8-of-8 ledger at the stripe, tying his most makes without a miss as a collegian. Lanier finished with 12 points, while junior forward Felix Okpara grabbed a game-leading nine rebounds before fouling out in the final minute.
Broome concluded the contest with 23 points and a team-best seven rebounds, shooting 9-of-13 from the field and 5-of-12 at the line. Senior guards Miles Kelly and Denver Jones had 13 points and 10 points, respectively, but Tennessee limited the latter to a 1-of-6 and his line make was Auburn’s first of the day.
The Volunteers shot 25-of-27 (92.6 percent) at the stripe, while the Tigers posted just a 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) mark. The victors, who made their final 16 free throws over the last 16:19, also had a commanding 25-3 advantage in bench points.
Next Up For UT Men’s Basketball
The Tennessee Vols basketball team, for the 14th time, will play for the SEC championship Saturday at 12:00pm CT (1:00pm ET) when they take on either fourth-ranked, second-seeded Florida or No. 5/8, third-seeded Alabama at Bridgestone Arena, live on ESPN.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
