After getting some momentum back with a home win over Texas A&M, No. 2 Auburn will look to protect home court again against Vanderbilt on Wednesday.
Auburn (23-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) entered last week ranked No. 1 in the country and was the only undefeated team in the SEC, but lost both of those distinctions with an overtime loss on the road at Arkansas. The Tigers got back on their court Saturday and responded with one of their best defensive performances of the season, defeating the Aggies 75-58.
The Tigers held Texas A&M to just 19-of-70 shooting (27.1 percent) from the floor and forced a dozen turnovers while holding two of the Aggies’ starters off the scoreboard. Auburn itself could not get its outside shot going with a dismal 3-of-25 mark (12 percent) from 3-point range, but Allen Flanigan scored 16 points and Walker Kessler posted 12 points, 12 blocks and 11 rebounds to pace the Tigers and make it a comfortable win.
“Our team played really hard today in front of a national television audience,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “They played really good defense. We didn’t make as many shots as we need to to get to the point where we feel like we’re special, but that’s what kind of needs to be done. Walker Kessler with his second triple-double, he’s one of the most dominant players in all of college basketball.”
Vanderbilt (13-11, 5-7) has been playing better basketball lately, although it lost on the road at rival Tennessee on Saturday. The Commodores had a stretch with five losses in six games early in conference play, but have won three out of five since.
The main catalyst has been Scotty Pippen Jr., who is leading the SEC in points per game this season with an average of 18.9.
Pippen Jr. again had a big game on Saturday against the Volunteers with 23 points and six assists, but a lack of depth scoring sunk his team. Vanderbilt got just seven points off the bench all day, while Tennessee’s second unit scored 36 points in what ended up being a 73-64 win for the Volunteers.
“I thought we were a little flat to start the game,” Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse said. “I didn’t feel that vibe. I thought we had a good shootaround today, guys were upbeat, the energy felt good before the game. But then we get out there and it felt like we were a step slow. They were playing harder than us.”
Wednesday’s game is the only scheduled meeting between the teams this season. They met once last season, a game Auburn won 73-67 on the road. The last time the teams met at Auburn was in January 2020, when the Tigers narrowly won 83-79.
Auburn has won four consecutive games in the series overall, with the last Vanderbilt win coming by an 80-61 count in January 2017.
Auburn is 13-0 at home this season, while Vanderbilt has struggled to just a 4-5 mark on the road.
–Field Level Media
