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Auburn, Tennessee trade blows in first half of SEC Tournament semifinal

Published: Mar 15, 2025 · 2:07 PM EDT

Auburn took a 33-32 lead over Tennessee into the halftime break after a back-and-forth 20 minutes in the first of 2 SEC Tournament semifinal games in Nashville.

Tennessee led by as many as 7 through the early part of the first half. Auburn responded late and led by as many as 5. Chaz Lanier opened the scoring with a 3-pointer after just 23 seconds of play. Tennessee went on to hit 6 of its first 7 shots and build a 26-19 lead. But, with 7:24 to play, Auburn broke off a 10-0 run to erase the deficit and jump out in front.

“We did a pretty good job of guarding without fouling,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl told the ESPN broadcast crew at the break. “Got off to a bad start, Tennessee was hot early, but I liked the way we bounced back.”

Broome was outstanding in the game’s first 20 minutes — and aggressive. He made 6 of his 7 shot attempts to lead all scorers with 12 points. He did, however, miss all 4 of his shots at the free throw line. Auburn also got 7 first-half points from Denver Jones and 5 from Miles Kelly.

Lanier scored 10 first-half points in 18 minutes, knocking down 2 of his 3 triples. Zakai Zeigler led the Vols with 11 points, knocking down all 7 of his free throw attempts. Igor Milicic Jr. (7) was the only other Tennessee player with more than 2 points.

Turnovers were an issue for Tennessee in the first half, with 6 of them directly leading to 9 Auburn points.

Neither team shot the 3-ball well over the game’s first 20 minutes, with Tennessee making 3 of its 12 and Auburn making 3 of 11.

The live line at bet365 favors the Tigers by 5.5 points in the second half.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.