By SCOTT FELTS
The Tennessee Volunteers hosted the Auburn Tigers on Saturday night in the return to Knoxville for former Vol and first-year Auburn head coach Steven Pearl.
Ultimately, Tennessee prevailed 77-69 to post its third straight win. The Vols (15-6, 5-3) used a 41-point first half to build a 10-point lead at the break despite missing its last ten shots of the half and allowing Auburn (14-8, 5-4) to convert a four-point play near halftime. The referees’ whistles took over the game with 42 total fouls called, which stifled either team getting much momentum.
Missing in Action: Coming into the game, each team had one player listed as out, while another player was a late scratch. Tennessee junior forward Cade Phillips remains out since early December, and will miss the remainder of the 2025–26 season. Auburn sophomore center Emeka Opurum was listed as out. Tennessee’s Felix Okpara did not play with a calf injury after testing it at shoot around.
Keyshawn, Key for Tigers: Transfer senior forward Keyshawn Hall has shown to be the main offensive weapon for the Tigers this season and one of the front runners for SEC Player of the Year. On Saturday, the Vols made it hard for him to see a clean basket for much of the game, but he was still able to find his average with 20 points albeit on just 7 of 17 shooting with four rebounds and two assists.
Beasts on the Boards: Five different Vols had five or more rebounds on Saturday as Tennessee outrebounded Auburn 43-30. Six different Vols have amassed 10 or more rebounds in a game this season, a feat that’s been achieved a total of 14 times. Tennessee has at least 35 rebounds in 18 of 21 games and totaled double digit offensive rebounds in 20 of 21.
Gillespie’s a Gamer: Averaging 23 points over his last three games heading into the Auburn contest, Ja’Kobi Gillespie became the first Vol to log three straight 20 point games since Chaz Lanier last season, and the first to do it in SEC play since Dalton Knecht in 2023-24. Gillespie cooled off against Auburn, totaling 11 points and five assists.
Boswell Stepping Up?: The Vols have been looking for a third player to step up their scoring and join Gillespie and super freshman Nate Ament. Just when it looked like Bishop Boswell was going to be that guy, he struggled to seven points, though he did contribute eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Boswell had recorded a double-double in two of four games heading into the Auburn contest.
Carey Carries Vols: Instead of Boswell, it was Vanderbilt transfer forward Jaylen Carey that stepped up and filled in well, especially with Okpara out. Carey finished with 13 points and eight boards, with his scoring total seconds for the Vols behind Ament’s 22. Carey came in averaging 8.4 points and 6.2 rebounds in 18 minutes on the season.
Up Next: The Vols host Ole Miss at home on Tuesday night at 7 PM Eastern on ESPN2. Ole Miss (11-10, 3-5) is coming off a close 71-68 loss at 18th ranked Vanderbilt in a game moved from Oxford to Nashville due to snowe.
Tip Ins: The game was a matchup of KenPom top 26 teams as the Tigers dropped one spot to 26th from last week and the Vols entered 20th. Auburn entered the game with the higher offensive efficiency (9th vs. the Vols’ 35th), but the Vols had the higher defensive efficiency: 16th compared to No. 74 for Auburn. … Auburn assistant coach Ira Bowman played for Rick Barnes at Providence. … Saturday’s game snaps a 12-game series streak across eight seasons where at least one of the teams was ranked. The last time Tennessee and Auburn both were unranked for a head-to-head meeting was Jan 31, 2017). … In his Tennessee coaching tenure, Barnes has more victories in SEC play (117) than he does total losses (115) in all games coached for the Vols.