Canty, Brown help Pearl get revenge against former team in win over UT

Thanks to huge games Kareem Canty, Tyler Harris and Bryce Brown, Bruce Pearl was able to get his revenge as the Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team (7-5, 1-0) beat the Tennessee Volunteers (7-6, 0-1) 83-77.

Canty and Brown both finished with 20 points as they were draining three-pointers all game, and Harris finish with a double-double scoring 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds with his corn rows.

Tennessee got out to a very slow start offensively hitting just one of their first 12 shots, and Auburn took advantage as they jumped out to a 7-4 lead by the first media timeout. A three-pointer by Kareem Canty just before the second media timeout gave Auburn a 13-8 lead.

Another three by Canty at the nine minute mark gave Auburn a 22-10 lead; however, Tennessee then went on a 6-0 run and cut the lead to six points at the under 8 timeout.

Auburn lost the lead at the 1:30 mark of the first half, but quickly grabbed it back. Then the Volunteers hit their first three of the game to regain the lead at 36-34, which is how the half ended.

TJ Lang was hit in the face right before halftime and had to leave the game as there was blood coming from his face and he never returned. That would be another big loss for the Tigers if he misses any time.

Canty led the Tigers at the half with 13 points, and Tyler Harris was right behind him with 9 points and 5 rebounds.

Auburn was outrebounded 23-19 in the first half, they turned the ball over five more times than Tennessee, and were just 5-10 from the free throw line, and that’s the reason the Volunteers were leading at the half despite Auburn holding a 46 percent to 34 percent shooting edge. The Volunteers also hit all nine of their free throw attempts in the first half.

More from Fly War Eagle

Auburn started the second half on an 8-0 run to take a six point lead as Bryce Brown went crazy from beyond the arc, but by the 15:12 mark Tennessee had pulled within two points.

A Canty three at the 12 minute mark stretched the Tigers’ lead back out to six points, and that’s where it would remain until the under 4 minute mark when the score was 71-65. An alley-oop pass from Brown to Jordon Granger – who also had a huge block in the second half when Tennessee was rallying – gave Auburn a nine point lead with 1:30 left.

The Tigers continued to struggle at the free throw line down the stretch and couldn’t put the Volunteers away as they got back within 5 points after hitting just their third three-pointer of the game, and then they got to within four points with 10 second left before Auburn finally put it on ice.

The Tigers won despite being outrebounded in the game 48-37, and shooting 56 percent (15-27) from the free throw line. It helped that the Volunteers were 3-28 from beyond the arc in the game, while Auburn was 12-26 from three-point range and shot 53 percent from the field.

The Tigers will be back in action on Tuesday as they take on the South Carolina Gamecocks at Auburn Arena at 6 p.m. Central on the SEC Network.

Home/Auburn Basketball