The Tennessee Volunteers alternated losses and wins through to open SEC play on the hardwood. They hoped that 6-game stretch, culminating in a home loss to Kentucky — in which they blew a 17-point lead — was merely them finding their footing for a stretch run. Following Saturday’s contest, they’re well on their way to that being the case.
Late Saturday night, the Vols battened the hatches and hung on to defeat Auburn 77-69 in Knoxville. Initially, Tennessee’s first home game since that disappointing defeat at the rival Wildcats’ hands appeared it was going to follow the same script. After building a 16-point advantage, the Volunteers let the Tigers trim their margin to 59-56 with just over 7:00 remaining in the game. But Tennessee responded with an 11-3 run to keep Auburn at arm’s length and stretch its winning streak to 3.
Likely 2026 NBA Draft lottery pick Nate Ament carried the load offensively for the Volunteers, pouring in a team-high 22 points in the win. Jaylen Carey added 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench to supplement things. Tennessee (15-6, 5-3 SEC) now sits 2 games back of Texas A&M, who leads the conference (7-1 SEC). The Volunteers’ current winning streak began with a double overtime victory over the Aggies back on Jan. 13.
Auburn (14-8, 5-4 SEC) entered play having won 4 straight contests. The Tigers will try to get back to winning ways versus in-state rival Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 7 (4:00 p.m. ET). Tennessee is back in action on Tuesday versus Ole Miss (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
