The Auburn Tigers dropped a game Tuesday night to No. 19 Vanderbilt, which picked up its first victory in Neville in over a decade, 84-76. The Commodores kept the Tigers uncomfortable, forcing 22 Auburn fouls and a 32.1 first-half field goal percentage. The loss is the third straight for head coach Steven Pearl's squad and drops Auburn to 14-10 on the season.
Vanderbilt got off to a hot start, only coming up empty on two possessions within the first six minutes of the game. Tyler Nickel led the surge for the Commodores, scoring five of the team’s first seven points and leading Vanderbilt to a quick 11-6 lead. It was quite the opposite for the Tigers, who came out of the gate shooting just 2-7 heading into the first media timeout.
However, the bad start would turn around shortly for the Tigers after the under-12 media timeout. Keyshawn Hall hit back-to-back threes in a solo 8-0 run to give Auburn the lead, but it was a short-lived as Vandy roared back, using a 13-2 run to give the Commodores a double-digit lead right before half. In the same span, Auburn went on a three-minute scoreless streak, ending the half shooting 9-for-28 with Keyshawn Hall going 2-10 from the field. It was also a bad half inside for the Tigers, with Auburn shooting 1-10 on shots at the rim in the first half.
For the majority of the second half, it remained an uphill battle for Auburn, as Vanderbilt shot 25 foul shots just in the second period. Four of those foul shots came after technical fouls of Steven Pearl and Keyshawn Hall, who was benched for the final ten minutes. Pearl was asked about the decision postgame.
“I just went with the guys who I thought put us in the best position to get back into the game," Pearl said.
It seemed that was the right decision initially, as Auburn started to get some runs of their own, going on an 8-0 run and a stretch of 4-7 from the field to cut the Commodore lead to just four with under four minutes to go in the game. It was a trio of Tigers leading the comeback, led by Tahaad Pettiford, who continued his good form from Saturday with a 21-point night. Pettiford was supported by Kevin Overton with 10 points and Keyshawn Murphy, who racked up 12 points.
Then the tide flipped again with about a minute left, as Vanderbilt went on a 10-4 run to close out any hopes of an Auburn comeback. The Commodores' AK Okereke hit a three-point dagger to go up nine late, which was the final nail in the coffin. The quick momentum switch was highlighted by Steven Pearl’s technical foul which he referenced after the game.
"[I] said ‘That was a big call' to Pat Adams before his technical," Pearl said. Adams said I swore at him. I said I didn't.”
Pear and the Tigers will try to bounce back after another tough game with a road trip on Saturday, as Auburn will travel up to Fayetteville to take No. 21 Arkansas. That game will be broadcast on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. CDT on Saturday.
