Auburn was without Sharife Cooper, coming off of a losing streak, and facing a top-25 Tennessee team that had played like one of the nation’s best teams at different times this season. The Volunteers outshot Auburn from deep, from the line, and from the floor overall in terms of percentage, and yet Bruce Pearl found a way to get his sixth straight victory over his previous coaching stop as the Tigers won 77-72 today at Auburn Arena.
Since the 2017-18 season, Auburn has controlled the rivalry with the Volunteers. On January 2nd, 2018, the Tigers beat Tennessee in Knoxville, and followed that up with the regular-season ending win in 2019 over the 5th-ranked Vols.