Tigers fall flat one last time
Auburn finished with a season-low four assists and shot 17 percent from long range against the Volunteers.
Auburn used a strong run during the 2015 Southeastern Conference Tournament to partially wipe away the misery of a disappointing regular season.
There will be no feel-good finale this time around.
The Tigers were comprehensively undone by Tennessee Wednesday night in a game that ended coach Bruce Pearl's second season with a thud. Auburn shot 30 percent from the floor including a 4-of-24 performance from three-point range -- an untenable degree of inaccuracy for a team lacking a consistent, low-post presence.
Tennessee won, 97-59.
"They were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted throughout the entire game," Pearl said. "Obviously, we're really disappointed."
Auburn (11-20) fell behind by 10 points less than four minutes into the game and trailed by 19 at halftime. The problems? Myriad. Defensive intensity and focus was absent throughout the first 10 minutes with only modest improvements seen as halftime approached.
The scoring-end situation was equally poor. Shooters T.J. Lang and Bryce Brown opened the game on cold streaks, which all but negated the drive-and-kick approach favored by makeshift point guard TJ Dunans. Ball movement slowed progressively and the scoring enterprise became less about strategy and more about happenstance.
The second half followed the same script. Auburn was slightly better on the scoring end, bumping its shooting percentage from 26 percent to 35 percent, but slightly worse on the defensive end.
Tennessee extended its lead to 30 points at the 15-minute mark. The Vols' margin never again fell below that threshold.
Dunans led the way with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Tyler Harris was the only other Auburn player to crack double digits; the senior finished with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
The Tigers finished with four assists on 17 baskets.
Auburn's loss ends a second difficult season for Pearl, who arrived at Auburn having never coached a team with a losing record. He's now 26-40 overall and 9-27 in league games since arriving on the Plains; numbers nearly identical to those generated by former coach Tony Barbee.
"I'm very disappointed in our play, but I’m not at all discouraged at the direction of our program," Pearl said. "I feel really good about where we’re going."