KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 17 Auburn beat Tennessee 85-63 to snap a two-game skid in the regular-season finale.
Tennessee tried to rally down 17 for a second consecutive game but came up way short. John Fulkerson led the Volunteers with 19 points before fouling out.
Auburn now heads to Nashville to defend its Southeastern Conference Tournament championship as the No. 2 seed after the Tigers had lost four of their previous six. Auburn already had earned a double-bye to the quarterfinals.
Auburn did two things really really well against the Vols, rebounded and hit threes.
Auburn was plus 16 on the glass, getting 13 second chance points. The Tigers hit 14 threes in this game. Samir Doughty hit 8 of them by himself. He had 32 points in this one.
Jordan Bowden dropped 17 points on his senior day. Tennessee cut the lead to just 5 points after this follow up dunk from Fulkerson, but Auburn was too much.
Tennessee drops its regular-season finale with 85-63 the final score.