AP Photo/Michael Woods
The penultimate Saturday of regular-season action in college basketball turned into a day of upsets across the country.
No. 3 Auburn suffered its fourth loss of the season with a 67-62 defeat at the hands of No. 17 Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Jabari Smith didn’t have an efficient scoring day with 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting (3-of-9 behind the arc) from the field.
Four Tennessee players scored in double figures, led by Santiago Vescovi’s 14 points. He only went 3-of-9 from the field but made all six of his free-throw attempts.
The Vols only shot 32.8 percent in the game, but they had a 21-10 advantage in offensive rebounds. John Fulkerson had six of those boards off the bench.
Head coach Bruce Pearl’s team is limping to the finish line after being one of the best teams in the nation for most of the year. The Tigers have lost two of their last three games, including a 63-62 defeat against Florida on Feb. 19.
Saturday’s loss leaves the door open for the SEC regular-season title. Auburn still leads the pack with a 13-3 record in conference games, but Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas are all tied for second at 12-4.
The Volunteers are 2-1 against those three teams, with all three games coming in the past 11 days. They beat Kentucky on Feb. 15, lost at Arkansas on Feb. 19 and now hold a win over Auburn.
Each of Auburn’s four losses this season have come on the road or at a neutral site.
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