Basketball News: 2-11-2026
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Dudley Dent
Feb 11, 2026, 8:22:37 AM (3 days ago) Feb 11
to Tiger Tracks
Auburn Basketball News: 2-11-2026
Auburn rallies late, falls 84-76 at home to No. 19 Vanderbilt:
https://auburntigers.com/news/2026/02/10/auburn-rallies-late-falls-84-76-at-home-to-no-19-vanderbilt
Auburn drops third straight with home loss to Vanderbilt:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/auburn-basketball-vanderbilt-game-score-2026-tigers-273905267/
Why Steven Pearl said he ‘didn’t earn’ late technical foul:
https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/2026/02/why-steven-pearl-said-he-didnt-earn-late-techincal-foul.html
Why were Keyshawn Hall’s minutes limited against Vanderbilt? Steven Pearl explains:
https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/2026/02/why-were-keyshawn-halls-minutes-limited-against-vanderbilt-steven-pearl-explains.html
Everything Steven Pearl said after Auburn's frustrating loss to Vanderbilt:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/longformarticle/auburn-basketball-vanderbilt-steven-pearl-press-conference-273917914/#2790182
3 Concerning Takeaways From Auburn's Brutal 84-76 Loss to No. 19 Vanderbilt:
https://www.si.com/college/auburn/basketball/3-concerning-takeaways-auburns-brutal-84-76-loss-vanderbilt
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Auburn rallies late, falls 84-76 at home to No. 19 Vanderbilt
By Jeff Shearer
Auburn rallied late but fell short to No. 19 Vanderbilt, losing 84-76 Tuesday at Neville Arena on a frustrating night for the home team.
“Credit to Vanderbilt. They did a great job. Played really well early tonight,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “We had a great environment tonight again. I want to continue to thank our fans for hanging in there with this team as we’re trying to work through some things. They did their part, we didn’t do ours. For that, I apologize. I’ve got to do a better job as their coach in these situations.”
Tahaad Pettiford paced all five Tiger starters in double figures with 21 points and four assists.
“He really battled tonight,” Pearl said. “He put in a great effort. That’s something we’re going to need from him moving forward. He did our best job of getting downhill and finishing at the rim.”
Keyhawn Hall scored 13, KeShawn Murphy added a dozen, Sebastian Williams-Adams scored 11 and Kevin Overton chipped in 10.
Elyjah Freeman grabbed a game-high eight rebounds off the bench to help Auburn outrebound Vanderbilt by nine (36-27).
Trailing by 11 after leading for only 20 seconds in the first half, Auburn fell behind by 15 five minutes into the second half before Hall hit his third 3-pointer.
Murphy made a steal and drove coast to coast for a lay-in in a 6-0 Auburn run that cut Vanderbilt’s lead to single digits, putting a charge into the home crowd.
Vanderbilt (20-4, 7-4) missed its first seven 3-point attempts of the second half before leading scorer Tyler Tanner made his only 3-pointer to put the Commodores on top by 11.
Down 14 with 6:14 to play, Auburn scored eight unanswered points to pull within six on Murphy’s pass to Overton for a reverse layup.
Needing a stop to potentially cut further into the deficit, Auburn forced a missed shot, but Vanderbilt’s Jalen Washington, who scored 22 points, got an offensive rebound and putback to lead 70-62 with 3:43 to play.
Auburn made one more push, getting back-to-back layups from Williams-Adams and Pettiford while making five straight field goals to pull within four points with 2:42 remaining.
“The last eight minutes, the group we had out there did a great job of fighting back,” Pearl said. “(Vanderbilt) did a great job executing down the stretch. Another disappointing result.”
Tanner, who scored a game-high 25 points, drew a foul when Auburn pressed, then after the Tigers missed a jump shot, Vanderbilt’s AK Okereke hit a 3-pointer from the corner at the 1:48 mark, and the Commodores made nine free throws the rest of the way to close out the road win.
“It’s such an incredible environment and a hard place to play,” said Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington, whose team made 22 of 25 free throws in the second half. “To be able to win here, I’m really proud of the guys. That Auburn team is difficult to stop and they have so many threats. In this building, they play at a high level. We knew Auburn was going to fight back. We wanted to take away the uncontested layup.”
Midway through the first half, Hall hit a pair of 3-pointers, then made two free throws to give Auburn its only lead of the game.
“I thought we should have gotten to the foul line more in the first half, based on how aggressive we were attacking downhill,” Pearl said.
After Overton tied the score at 26-26 with 6:03 to play, Vanderbilt outscored Auburn 16-5 down the stretch to take a 42-31 halftime lead.
Vanderbilt forwards Devin McGlockton and Washington each scored 12 points in the half, combining to make 8 of 9 field goals including 4-for-4 on 3-point attempts to help the Commodores take a 42-31 halftime lead.
“My big guys played really well today,” Byington said. “Those guys stepped up.”
Seeking to sweep the season series while ending a three-game losing streak, Auburn (14-10, 5-6) plays at No. 21 Arkansas Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network from Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
The Tigers return to Neville Arena for the AUTLIVE Cancer game Saturday, Feb. 21 vs. Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. CT with free AUTLIVE t-shirts for Auburn University students.
“We continue to have great opportunities in front of us,” Pearl said. “We’ve got to find a way to improve. While the results haven’t been there, this team continues to get better. We’ve got to trust what we’re doing but we’ve also got to tweak things we’re doing defensively.
“We’ve got to find a way to steal a couple on the road and then try to protect home court later in the season. The only way we’re going to do that is if we refocus and come back ready to go (at practice) on Thursday.”
GAME NOTES
Tuesday was the 82nd consecutive sellout in Neville Arena (9,121).
Auburn used the starting lineup of Tahaad Pettiford, Kevin Overton, Keyshawn Hall, KeShawn Murphy and Sebastian Williams-Adams. It is the 11th time the group has started together this season and the lineup is 6-5.
Auburn committed only eight turnovers. It was the 10th time this season the Tigers have committed single-digit turnovers, including the fifth time in the last six games. Over that span, Auburn has averaged 7.3 turnovers.
Auburn outrebounded Vanderbilt, 36-27. It was the 15th time this season the Tigers have outrebounded an opponent, including seven times in SEC play.
Auburn scored 21 second-chance points off 18 offensive rebounds. Both totals were the most for the Tigers since they scored 24 second-chance points off 19 offensive boards against Texas A&M on Jan. 6. It was the fourth time this season Auburn has scored at least 20 second-chance points and the second time in an SEC game.
Auburn placed five players in double figures for the fifth time this season and had all five starters score in double figures for the first time since doing so at Ole Miss last season.
The Tigers were led by 21 points from Pettiford. It was the sophomore’s second straight 20-point after scoring 25 points against Alabama on Saturday. It was Pettiford’s 13th career 20-point game and his seventh this season. Pettiford is averaging 17.5 points in the second half over the last two games after scoring 21 points after halftime against Alabama on Saturday.
Murphy chipped in with 12 points, including 10 points in the second half. It was the senior’s 10th game in double figures this season, including seven in SEC play, and his 37th career game in double figures.
Williams-Adams finished with 11 points and added six rebounds, one assist and one block in 37 minutes. It was his eighth game in double figures this season, including five in SEC play.
Overton added 10 points shot 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc to go with two rebounds in 30 minutes. It was his 46th career game in double figures, including 16 this season and 10 in the last 13 contests. Overton is shooting 48 percent (12-of-25) from 3-point range over the last four games.
Hall scored 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc and 4-of-5 from the foul line. With his four made free throws, Hall now has made 170 free throws on the season, moving past Jared Harper (2017-18) into solo fourth place on Auburn’s single-season free throw list. The senior has been in double figures in 22 of 23 games this season.
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Auburn drops third straight with home loss to Vanderbilt
By Nathan King
Auburn's result Tuesday night, in the aftermath of an emotional loss to Alabama over the weekend, was the definition of a hangover performance.
The Tigers' losing streak lengthened to three games, as their offense struggled mightily in an 84-76 defeat to Vanderbilt — the program's first home loss to the Commodores in nine years.
Here are Auburn Undercover's instant impressions, as the Tigers are back to a losing SEC record in league play at 5-6, having lost three straight immediately following a four-game winning streak just a couple weeks ago.
AUBURN'S RALLY FALLS SHORT
After trailing by as many as 15 in the second half, Auburn brought Vanderbilt's lead down to single digits multiple times in the second half but couldn't keep it there — until getting a couple stops inside five minutes to play, bringing it to a 6-point game with 4:20 left. That was the closest Auburn had been since the 3:54 mark of the first half.
Tahaad Pettiford scored a running layup, then KeShawn Murphy made a great pass to Kevin Overton for an easy layup to make it 68-62.
Auburn got another stop — Vanderbilt missed five of its last seven shots in the game — and Pettiford raced down the floor for another layup to bring the lead down to 4.
But after Tyler Tanner's two free throws, Pettiford couldn't hit a fadeaway jumper, Vanderbilt's AK Okereke hit a 3-pointer in the corner and Steven Pearl was hit with a technical foul — leading to two free throws by Tanner — the Commodores' 10-point lead inside two minutes left was too much to overcome.
AUBURN'S OFFENSE LOOKS LIKE A SHELL OF ITSELF
Everything looked like it was moving in slow motion for Auburn's offense.
In a discouraging performance on their home floor, it was the Tigers' scoring that doomed them. Auburn shot 40 percent from the floor and struggled mightily to score the ball around the basket.
Amid a brutal stretch on both ends of the floor, Vanderbilt led by as many as 11 points late in the first half. Auburn had tied the game with 6:03 left before the Tigers began having some rough execution, particularly on offense.
Keyshawn Hall scored 10 points in just over three minutes to help the Tigers stay in it, and Kevin Overton made two 3-pointers, but Auburn struggled to keep up anything consistent scoring the ball.
The Tigers' defense wasn't good, either, but its offense hadn't looked that bad in a while, shooting just 32 percent in the first half with six turnovers. Auburn shot 5-of-10 from deep in the first half but wasn't able to get much of anything else. Vanderbilt isn't the biggest, most physical team in the SEC, but the Tigers really struggled to convert around the basket, making just 1-of-10 shots at the rim in the first half.
Auburn was met with multiple black jerseys seemingly every time it went to the rim, and as a result, the Tigers were just 17-of-43 shooting from 2-point range in the game.
Most everything the Tigers tried was stymied, and when the halfcourt offense was stalling, the Tigers couldn't get out and run, either. They totaled just 5 fastbreak points for the entire game.
Pettiford did his best to keep Auburn going, attacking and attempting to give the Tigers some life. He scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half.
TIGERS HOLD UP AGAINST ELITE COMMODORES SHOOTING
Already the fifth top-15 KenPom offense that Auburn has seen this season in SEC play, Vanderbilt came out of the gates making seven of its first 11 shots and were 6-of-13 from downtown in the first half, including a couple shots that were wide open after Auburn got lost on baseline inbounds plays.
Vanderbilt shot close to or better than 60 percent for the majority of the first half.
It wasn't just the outside shooting, though. Vanderbilt scored 34 points in the paint. Jalen Washington was a big problem for Auburn on the interior, scoring 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
Auburn committed five fouls in the second half before the under-16 timeout, as Vanderbilt built its lead as large as 15 points, and the Neville Arena crowd boisterously expressed its displeasure with the officiating.
The Commodores' percentages came down in the second half, though, as many of their open 3s simply missed. As bad as things were for Auburn on Tuesday night, they probably would have been a lot worse had Vanderbilt just hit a few more of its open shots.
Even when Vanderbilt hit a lull in the second half and Auburn's defense seemed to find some footing, a technical foul on Hall gave the Commodores a 4-point possession, all from free throws. Hall was hit with the technical with 14:53 left to play and did not check back in.
Auburn brought the lead down to 8 points before the under-8 timeout of the second half, but Vanderbilt point guard Tyler Tanner nailed a deep 3-pointer late in the shot clock and shushed the crowd.
MVP: TYLER TANNER
Pearl said this week that slowing down Tyler Tanner was the top priority for Auburn, and the sophomore point guard proceeded to have his fingerprints all over Vanderbilt's win.
Including a big 3-pointer to cut into Auburn's attempt at a run in the second half, Tanner scored a game-high 25 points, but was arguably more effective orchestrating Vanderbilt's offense to the tune of six assists.
Tanner also went 9-of-10 from the foul line in the final three minutes of the game and dished the assist for Vanderbilt's late 3-pointer that felt like the dagger.
UP NEXT
Auburn has a tough task on the road against another ranked SEC team Saturday: No. 21 Arkansas, in a rematch of the Tigers' 95-73 win in Neville Arena last month.
Auburn then heads to Mississippi State next Wednesday before hosting No. 25 Kentucky.
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Why Steven Pearl said he ‘didn’t earn’ late technical foul
By Peter Rauterkus
al.com
After Auburn’s 84-76 loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, Tigers head coach Steven Pearl told reporters that his team needs to do a better job of controlling its emotions and not interacting with the officials.
Those things hurt Auburn in the loss, as it was called for two technical fouls and both were for arguing with the referees. The more costly one came late in the game, when Pearl was assessed a technical with 1:42 remaining as Auburn trailed by nine.
Pearl told reporters after the game that he told the official, “That was a big call,” after Auburn was called for a foul on Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner. The official, Pearl claimed, said the technical foul was for cursing, which Pearl said he didn’t do.
“I was mic’d up tonight so maybe I gotta check the feed,” Pearl said. “But I asked my bench, like, did I cuss at him? And they said no. So, really disappointed.”
It was one of two technical fouls by Auburn in the second half. The first came on Keyshawn Hall at the 14:53 mark, and that one also came after Hall engaged with the officials after a foul called on him.
While Pearl said the team needs to do a better job of controlling its emotions and not interacting with officials, he said he’d never berate or curse at referees.
“I’ve tried to pride myself in not really getting after the officials. I just slap the video board to try and take my frustration on something,” Pearl said. “I got a lot of respect for those guys, and I would never berate them or curse at them like that. So yeah, didn’t think I earned that one.”
Auburn’s loss to Vanderbilt marked the Tigers’ third defeat in a row, dropping them to 14-10 overall and 5-6 in SEC play.
Auburn’s next game is set for Saturday night against Arkansas. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on SEC Network.
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Why were Keyshawn Hall’s minutes limited against Vanderbilt? Steven Pearl explains
By Peter Rauterkus
al.com
On most nights, Keyshawn Hall is the best player on the floor for Auburn, at least on offense. Against Vanderbilt, head coach Steven Pearl decided in the second half that the Tigers’ best chance to win was without their leading scorer.
Hall played just 26 minutes in Auburn’s 84-76 loss to Vanderbilt and sat out for the final 12:38. He finished the game with 13 points on 3-for-13 shooting.
"It was just a coach’s decision," Pearl told reporters postgame. “I just wanted to go with the group that I thought was gonna help us get back in the game.”
Auburn trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, but cut Vanderbilt’s lead down to four at one point. The Tigers couldn’t do enough to flip the result, but they showed some life later in the second half.
Two minutes before Hall was taken out of the game for the final time, he was assessed a technical foul for arguing with the officials. Pearl, who also received a technical foul in the second half, said after the game that Auburn needs to do a better job of controlling its emotions and not interacting with the officials.
When he was on the floor, Hall had trouble scoring the way he normally does. He had 13 points and knocked down three of his five 3-pointers, but struggled around the basket.
Hall missed all eight of his 2-point shot attempts, an area he typically thrives in. He also shot just five free throws, and three of them came on a 3-point attempt.
“Vanderbilt did a really good job, every time he had the ball, just plugging the paint. Made it really difficult for him,” Pearl said. “And our offense wasn’t really in sync when he was on the floor.”
It’s hard to beat ranked teams when your best player has a game like the one Hall had. That was the case for Auburn against Vanderbilt, which ultimately led to Pearl choosing to finish the game without Hall.
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Everything Steven Pearl said after Auburn's frustrating loss to Vanderbilt
By Nathan King
Auburn is in serious danger of losing four straight immediately following a four-game winning streak. The Tigers fell 84-76 at home to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night after some major offensive struggles in the first half. Auburn shot just 11-of-27 at the rim, and leading scorer Keyshawn Hall was 0-of-8 from 2-point range before sitting out the final nine minutes after a technical foul.
Here's everything Steven Pearl said after the Tigers' first back-to-back home loss in five years.
OPENING REMARKS ...
"Credit to Vanderbilt. They did a great job. Came out and played really well early. I thought we had a great environment tonight, again. I just want to continue to thank our fans for hanging in there with this team as we're trying to work through some things. They did their part, we didn't do ours. For that, I apologize. I've got to do a better job as their coach in these situations.
"I thought Vanderbilt came out -- that's the second game in a row where we had a defensive breakdown on the second possession. They make a 3, and that does wonders for your confidence when you're able to come out and hit your first shot like that. That was a big start. They had some real step-up from their bigs. Washington and McGlockton played great. McGlockton had some big ones in the first half to keep us round around 8-10. Washington has made six 3s on the year, and he makes two.
"They had some real step-up. Tanner does a great job; got to the foul line 13 times, had six assists, one turnover. We didn't do a good enough job disrupting them defensively. That's on me: I've got to switch some things up defensively in some of these games. We did that in the last 10 minutes and it was effective, but we've got to do that earlier. Offensively, I just thought in the first half -- we were 4-of-18 from 2. One of our biggest emphasises was attacking the paint, and I thought we did that a lot tonight.
"I thought we should have gotten to the foul line more in the first half, just based on how aggressive we were attacking downhill. The lack of us getting to the foul line led to some frustration, and it kind of carried over. We've got to do a better job controlling our emotions and not interacting with the officials as much -- because they have a tough job. The last eight minutes, that group we had on the floor did a better job fighting back and putting us in a position to cut it to 4. We get a stop, and we have a shot to cut it to 2. They did a great job executing down the stretch.
"Really disappointing result. We continue to have great opportunities in front of us. We've just got to find ways to -- we've got to improve, we've got to get better."
ON THE DEFENSE'S STRUGGLES ...
"We did a good job on Nickel -- 3-for-12, only 10 points. Tanner is 6-for-16, but he gets to the foul line 13 times. We talked about limiting those two. He got to the foul line probably six times late. We did a decent job on those two. They had just had real step-up from some of their other guys. Good teams will do that. Washington having 22, that wasn't something that was on my bingo card. Credit to him, he played great.
"I'll have to watch the film and just kind of see. But I thought the effort was there. I thought the execution wasn't. But part of that is on me, too. I've got to do some things defensively, too, to get us a little more active, flying around and trying to be a little more aggressive like we were at the end. We've got to do some more of that moving forward. That's on me as their coach. I've got to do a better job of putting them in positions to make plays."
ON KEYSHAWN HALL BEING BENCHED ...
"Yeah, I just went with the guys that I thought put us in the best position to get back in the game. We end up cutting it to four, and that group did a really good job of just grinding and fighting and clawing back in. Vanderbilt did a really good job, every time he had the ball, just plugging the paint. Made it really difficult for him. And our offense wasn't really in sync when he was on the floor.
"So, wanted to give us a different look and went with those guys. I thought we had a lot of good minutes from Elyjah. I thought Elyjah played well. Obviously, he didn't shoot it great. But he got eight big rebounds and was really aggressive. It was just a coach's decision. I just wanted to go with the group that I thought was gonna help us get back in the game."
ON TAHAAD PETTIFORD'S GAME ...
"He's had two pretty good offensive game. Another game where, you know, if he's 1-6 from 3, I thought two or three of them were down. Four assists, one turnover. He's had 11 assists and three turnovers in the last two games. That's good.
"Tahaad took some coaching this week about his off-ball positioning, and he did such a great job in practice this week of trying to coach guys through things. I just want to give him some credit on that, because I've been pretty harsh on Tahaad in some of these pressers, because he's one of my best players and I expect a lot out of them. But I thought he really battled tonight. I thought he really put in a great effort.
"That's something we're going to need from him moving forward. I'm glad he's playing with a little more confidence. He did our best job getting downhill and finishing at the rim. I think he was 6-12 on 2s and got to the foul line. Did a good job of getting us back into it. And I thought he had some ones that were, you know, halfway in down the stretch that could have changed the game."
EFFORT NOT AN ISSUE ON DEFENSE? ...
"Yeah, we just got to stay consistent. Like, I know people are going to be panicking right now. But, if you look going into this game, based on our adjusted efficiency, we've been the second-best team in our conference going into this game. So while the results haven't been there, this team has continued to get better. We got to just trust what we're doing, but we also got to tweak some of the things that we're doing defensively, to try and be a little more aggressive in some of the things that we're doing to give us an opportunity to make plays and not let teams be more comfortable in what they're doing. We've shown that we've been able to win some games with our defense this year when our offense wasn't going. We didn't do that tonight. We shot 32% in the first half, and they shot 57. So they did a really good job of executing in the first half and our defense just wasn't as good as what it was in the last 10 minutes. So I got to do a better job getting these guys prepared, and I got to do a better job of making adjustments in-game to give us a better chance to win these ones."
ON WHAT LED TO HIS TECHNICAL FOUL ...
"I said, 'That was a big call,' because on the pressure when they called the foul on Tanner, he had already passed the ball. So I thought there was no advantage, there was no disadvantage to the contact that we had in the trap. I thought since he got off of it, I didn't think the call needed to happen. Usually they call those things when there's an advantage for the defense, if that makes sense, right? So I thought since he got rid of it, I didn't think he needed to call that in that moment. As he's running down, I said, that was a big call. And he T'd me up and he said I cussed at him.
"I was mic'd up tonight, so maybe I gotta check the feed. I asked my bench, did I cuss at him? And they said no, so really disappointed. I've tried to pride myself in not really getting after the officials. I just slapped the video board to try and take my frustration on something. I mean, didn't curse at him. I just said that was a big call, man. It went from a 6-point game, and then I think they got a stop and came down and scored again. So it just felt like a big shift in momentum on a call that I didn't think needed to happen. Those guys have a really difficult job. There was a lot of contact in that game. And, disappointed though, because I got a lot of respect for those guys and I would never berate them or curse at them like that. So yeah, didn't think I earned that one."
ON ANOTHER POOR START ...
"Yeah, I mean, (the) Alabama game, we were up 10, so that wasn't really an issue. At Tennessee, we got down 14. Texas, we got down 14, right? And then tonight, we get down 15 in the second half. We might have to switch up some things. I don't know if that's the answer. It'd be helpful if we could win a tip. I feel like we lose one every game, and they get the first possession. We've got to do a better job starting off defensively and getting stops. In that four-game stretch where we won four games, one of the commonalities was we got a stop on our first possession in all four of those games. So, we've got to do a better job starting out games because in this league, there's a lot of good teams, and if you get in a double-digit hole, it's really hard to come out. So, we've got to do a better job of getting off to better starts, and three of our last four, we got off to bad starts."
ON LOSING BACK-TO-BACK HOME GAMES ...
"I've got to think about Arkansas because they're really good. For us, it's like, we can't get too focused on games three or four down the road. We've got to get ready for Arkansas, and we've got to find a way to have a great practice on Thursday. But protecting home court is really important. It's disappointing because we had two teams that were really good, that had good analytics, that could have really helped our résumé, and we lost to both. So, missed opportunities there, but we've got to find a way to steal a couple on the road, and then, like you said, try and protect home court later in the season. But the only way we're going to be able to do that is if we refocus and come back ready to go on Thursday."
ON ELYJAH FREEMAN BEING +8 ...
"He's coachable, plays hard, does all the little things that we ask of him, and I know he has so much more to offer offensively that I'm really excited to tap into at some point. But he's a good teammate. He's been patient. He's waited his turn. I love that he was able to play more tonight and be effective, only had one foul tonight. It's great to have him out there because he rebounds the basketball. He's got great length. To be plus eight in an eight-point loss, that's significant, so that's something we've got to look more into and look to try and get him some more minutes."
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3 Concerning Takeaways From Auburn's Brutal 84-76 Loss to No. 19 Vanderbilt
By Gunner Norene
The Auburn Tigers dropped their third consecutive game on Tuesday night, falling to No. 19 Vanderbilt, 84-76, in Neville Arena.
According to Matthew Wallace of the Auburn Villager, the game marked the first time Auburn has lost back-to-back home games since 2021, which was during a season with a limited crowd due to COVID. Furthermore, 247Sports’ Nathan King pointed out that it had been nine years (2017) since the Tigers last lost back-to-back games on their home floor with a full-capacity Neville Arena.
Auburn dug itself a deep hole from the opening tip, as the Commodores built a quick 9-2 lead within the first three minutes of action and led for just over 38 total minutes. The Tigers only held a lead over Vanderbilt for 20 seconds, which came when Auburn was up 19-18 with nine minutes remaining in the first half.
From then, Vanderbilt never really looked back, as the Commodores even extended their lead to 15 points at one point in the opening 20 minutes of play.
There are many conclusions one could make from this loss, but let’s take a look at three concerning takeaways that emerged on Tuesday.
Where is the Leadership?
Think back to recent years of Auburn Basketball, and some of the best players that have come through the Plains over the last 5-7 seasons. What comes to mind?
Johni Broome. Dylan Cardwell. Denver Jones. Jared Harper – just to name a few. The list goes on.
What is a constant theme that each one of those former players has in common? Yes, there are extremely talented basketball players on the court, but they also served as massive leaders on their respective teams.
This year’s squad of Tigers seems to lack a true leader. In terms of players, not coaches or supporting staff, there doesn’t seem to be someone who “rallies the troops” or takes control of the locker room in times that may require it. Auburn doesn’t have someone like Cardwell, whom the rest of the team respects, admires, looks up to, and holds in high regard as a valuable leader.
Some have shown glimpses at times, including Keyshawn Hall, KeShawn Murphy, or even Kevin Overton, but none of them have evolved into a steady leader for this basketball team.
Tahaad Pettiford was often viewed as the assumed leader, considering he was the only returnee from last year’s Final Four team, but the sophomore doesn’t seem to be taking that role – at least not yet.
And the lack of leadership shows in crunch time and important late-game situations. If Auburn wishes to right the ship and get this season back on track, a true leader needs to make his presence known soon
Consistently Inconsistent
After riding a four-game winning streak heading into Knoxville, Tenn., last weekend, the Tigers have somewhat fallen apart in the last three outings.
The season seemed to take off when Auburn invaded Gainesville and claimed its first win at Florida in 30 years, which appears to be the best team in the SEC, before returning home and defeating Texas the following game week. However, instead of building on a historic victory over the Gators at a time when they were playing some of their basketball, Auburn has simply regressed once again.
There are plenty of opportunities that lie ahead for Auburn to garner more resume-building wins, but one of the most frustrating aspects of this team is the inconsistencies that continue to arise night in and night out.
Lack of an Identity
In reality, it doesn’t seem like Auburn exactly has an identity on either end of the floor.
On the offensive end, the Tigers showed in their win over Florida that they could compete with teams that may present size challenges and talented big men down low. Auburn proved to itself that it can go toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s best teams if it plays with relentless effort on defense, attacks the rim, and crashes the glass effectively.
However, the Tigers have also displayed the inability to finish around the basket, and they often become stagnant in crucial moments. Additionally, Auburn has a tendency to play ISO-ball in panic situations, whether it be Hall of Pettiford, which really seems to plummet offensive production.
In terms of defense, the Tigers are extremely inconsistent while guarding, and head coach Steven Pearl has called out his team’s defensive effort multiple times in recent press conferences.
Auburn can’t seem to generate stops when needed most, and defensive breakdowns have haunted the Tigers in recent games, especially against Alabama on Saturday.
The Tigers need to find an identity quickly, as March is quickly approaching, if they want to make a run of any sort.
Auburn rallies late, falls 84-76 at home to No. 19 Vanderbilt:
https://auburntigers.com/news/2026/02/10/auburn-rallies-late-falls-84-76-at-home-to-no-19-vanderbilt
Auburn drops third straight with home loss to Vanderbilt:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/auburn-basketball-vanderbilt-game-score-2026-tigers-273905267/
Why Steven Pearl said he ‘didn’t earn’ late technical foul:
https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/2026/02/why-steven-pearl-said-he-didnt-earn-late-techincal-foul.html
Why were Keyshawn Hall’s minutes limited against Vanderbilt? Steven Pearl explains:
https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/2026/02/why-were-keyshawn-halls-minutes-limited-against-vanderbilt-steven-pearl-explains.html
Everything Steven Pearl said after Auburn's frustrating loss to Vanderbilt:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/longformarticle/auburn-basketball-vanderbilt-steven-pearl-press-conference-273917914/#2790182
3 Concerning Takeaways From Auburn's Brutal 84-76 Loss to No. 19 Vanderbilt:
https://www.si.com/college/auburn/basketball/3-concerning-takeaways-auburns-brutal-84-76-loss-vanderbilt
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Auburn rallies late, falls 84-76 at home to No. 19 Vanderbilt
By Jeff Shearer
Auburn rallied late but fell short to No. 19 Vanderbilt, losing 84-76 Tuesday at Neville Arena on a frustrating night for the home team.
“Credit to Vanderbilt. They did a great job. Played really well early tonight,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “We had a great environment tonight again. I want to continue to thank our fans for hanging in there with this team as we’re trying to work through some things. They did their part, we didn’t do ours. For that, I apologize. I’ve got to do a better job as their coach in these situations.”
Tahaad Pettiford paced all five Tiger starters in double figures with 21 points and four assists.
“He really battled tonight,” Pearl said. “He put in a great effort. That’s something we’re going to need from him moving forward. He did our best job of getting downhill and finishing at the rim.”
Keyhawn Hall scored 13, KeShawn Murphy added a dozen, Sebastian Williams-Adams scored 11 and Kevin Overton chipped in 10.
Elyjah Freeman grabbed a game-high eight rebounds off the bench to help Auburn outrebound Vanderbilt by nine (36-27).
Trailing by 11 after leading for only 20 seconds in the first half, Auburn fell behind by 15 five minutes into the second half before Hall hit his third 3-pointer.
Murphy made a steal and drove coast to coast for a lay-in in a 6-0 Auburn run that cut Vanderbilt’s lead to single digits, putting a charge into the home crowd.
Vanderbilt (20-4, 7-4) missed its first seven 3-point attempts of the second half before leading scorer Tyler Tanner made his only 3-pointer to put the Commodores on top by 11.
Down 14 with 6:14 to play, Auburn scored eight unanswered points to pull within six on Murphy’s pass to Overton for a reverse layup.
Needing a stop to potentially cut further into the deficit, Auburn forced a missed shot, but Vanderbilt’s Jalen Washington, who scored 22 points, got an offensive rebound and putback to lead 70-62 with 3:43 to play.
Auburn made one more push, getting back-to-back layups from Williams-Adams and Pettiford while making five straight field goals to pull within four points with 2:42 remaining.
“The last eight minutes, the group we had out there did a great job of fighting back,” Pearl said. “(Vanderbilt) did a great job executing down the stretch. Another disappointing result.”
Tanner, who scored a game-high 25 points, drew a foul when Auburn pressed, then after the Tigers missed a jump shot, Vanderbilt’s AK Okereke hit a 3-pointer from the corner at the 1:48 mark, and the Commodores made nine free throws the rest of the way to close out the road win.
“It’s such an incredible environment and a hard place to play,” said Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington, whose team made 22 of 25 free throws in the second half. “To be able to win here, I’m really proud of the guys. That Auburn team is difficult to stop and they have so many threats. In this building, they play at a high level. We knew Auburn was going to fight back. We wanted to take away the uncontested layup.”
Midway through the first half, Hall hit a pair of 3-pointers, then made two free throws to give Auburn its only lead of the game.
“I thought we should have gotten to the foul line more in the first half, based on how aggressive we were attacking downhill,” Pearl said.
After Overton tied the score at 26-26 with 6:03 to play, Vanderbilt outscored Auburn 16-5 down the stretch to take a 42-31 halftime lead.
Vanderbilt forwards Devin McGlockton and Washington each scored 12 points in the half, combining to make 8 of 9 field goals including 4-for-4 on 3-point attempts to help the Commodores take a 42-31 halftime lead.
“My big guys played really well today,” Byington said. “Those guys stepped up.”
Seeking to sweep the season series while ending a three-game losing streak, Auburn (14-10, 5-6) plays at No. 21 Arkansas Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network from Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
The Tigers return to Neville Arena for the AUTLIVE Cancer game Saturday, Feb. 21 vs. Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. CT with free AUTLIVE t-shirts for Auburn University students.
“We continue to have great opportunities in front of us,” Pearl said. “We’ve got to find a way to improve. While the results haven’t been there, this team continues to get better. We’ve got to trust what we’re doing but we’ve also got to tweak things we’re doing defensively.
“We’ve got to find a way to steal a couple on the road and then try to protect home court later in the season. The only way we’re going to do that is if we refocus and come back ready to go (at practice) on Thursday.”
GAME NOTES
Tuesday was the 82nd consecutive sellout in Neville Arena (9,121).
Auburn used the starting lineup of Tahaad Pettiford, Kevin Overton, Keyshawn Hall, KeShawn Murphy and Sebastian Williams-Adams. It is the 11th time the group has started together this season and the lineup is 6-5.
Auburn committed only eight turnovers. It was the 10th time this season the Tigers have committed single-digit turnovers, including the fifth time in the last six games. Over that span, Auburn has averaged 7.3 turnovers.
Auburn outrebounded Vanderbilt, 36-27. It was the 15th time this season the Tigers have outrebounded an opponent, including seven times in SEC play.
Auburn scored 21 second-chance points off 18 offensive rebounds. Both totals were the most for the Tigers since they scored 24 second-chance points off 19 offensive boards against Texas A&M on Jan. 6. It was the fourth time this season Auburn has scored at least 20 second-chance points and the second time in an SEC game.
Auburn placed five players in double figures for the fifth time this season and had all five starters score in double figures for the first time since doing so at Ole Miss last season.
The Tigers were led by 21 points from Pettiford. It was the sophomore’s second straight 20-point after scoring 25 points against Alabama on Saturday. It was Pettiford’s 13th career 20-point game and his seventh this season. Pettiford is averaging 17.5 points in the second half over the last two games after scoring 21 points after halftime against Alabama on Saturday.
Murphy chipped in with 12 points, including 10 points in the second half. It was the senior’s 10th game in double figures this season, including seven in SEC play, and his 37th career game in double figures.
Williams-Adams finished with 11 points and added six rebounds, one assist and one block in 37 minutes. It was his eighth game in double figures this season, including five in SEC play.
Overton added 10 points shot 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc to go with two rebounds in 30 minutes. It was his 46th career game in double figures, including 16 this season and 10 in the last 13 contests. Overton is shooting 48 percent (12-of-25) from 3-point range over the last four games.
Hall scored 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc and 4-of-5 from the foul line. With his four made free throws, Hall now has made 170 free throws on the season, moving past Jared Harper (2017-18) into solo fourth place on Auburn’s single-season free throw list. The senior has been in double figures in 22 of 23 games this season.
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Auburn drops third straight with home loss to Vanderbilt
By Nathan King
Auburn's result Tuesday night, in the aftermath of an emotional loss to Alabama over the weekend, was the definition of a hangover performance.
The Tigers' losing streak lengthened to three games, as their offense struggled mightily in an 84-76 defeat to Vanderbilt — the program's first home loss to the Commodores in nine years.
Here are Auburn Undercover's instant impressions, as the Tigers are back to a losing SEC record in league play at 5-6, having lost three straight immediately following a four-game winning streak just a couple weeks ago.
AUBURN'S RALLY FALLS SHORT
After trailing by as many as 15 in the second half, Auburn brought Vanderbilt's lead down to single digits multiple times in the second half but couldn't keep it there — until getting a couple stops inside five minutes to play, bringing it to a 6-point game with 4:20 left. That was the closest Auburn had been since the 3:54 mark of the first half.
Tahaad Pettiford scored a running layup, then KeShawn Murphy made a great pass to Kevin Overton for an easy layup to make it 68-62.
Auburn got another stop — Vanderbilt missed five of its last seven shots in the game — and Pettiford raced down the floor for another layup to bring the lead down to 4.
But after Tyler Tanner's two free throws, Pettiford couldn't hit a fadeaway jumper, Vanderbilt's AK Okereke hit a 3-pointer in the corner and Steven Pearl was hit with a technical foul — leading to two free throws by Tanner — the Commodores' 10-point lead inside two minutes left was too much to overcome.
AUBURN'S OFFENSE LOOKS LIKE A SHELL OF ITSELF
Everything looked like it was moving in slow motion for Auburn's offense.
In a discouraging performance on their home floor, it was the Tigers' scoring that doomed them. Auburn shot 40 percent from the floor and struggled mightily to score the ball around the basket.
Amid a brutal stretch on both ends of the floor, Vanderbilt led by as many as 11 points late in the first half. Auburn had tied the game with 6:03 left before the Tigers began having some rough execution, particularly on offense.
Keyshawn Hall scored 10 points in just over three minutes to help the Tigers stay in it, and Kevin Overton made two 3-pointers, but Auburn struggled to keep up anything consistent scoring the ball.
The Tigers' defense wasn't good, either, but its offense hadn't looked that bad in a while, shooting just 32 percent in the first half with six turnovers. Auburn shot 5-of-10 from deep in the first half but wasn't able to get much of anything else. Vanderbilt isn't the biggest, most physical team in the SEC, but the Tigers really struggled to convert around the basket, making just 1-of-10 shots at the rim in the first half.
Auburn was met with multiple black jerseys seemingly every time it went to the rim, and as a result, the Tigers were just 17-of-43 shooting from 2-point range in the game.
Most everything the Tigers tried was stymied, and when the halfcourt offense was stalling, the Tigers couldn't get out and run, either. They totaled just 5 fastbreak points for the entire game.
Pettiford did his best to keep Auburn going, attacking and attempting to give the Tigers some life. He scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half.
TIGERS HOLD UP AGAINST ELITE COMMODORES SHOOTING
Already the fifth top-15 KenPom offense that Auburn has seen this season in SEC play, Vanderbilt came out of the gates making seven of its first 11 shots and were 6-of-13 from downtown in the first half, including a couple shots that were wide open after Auburn got lost on baseline inbounds plays.
Vanderbilt shot close to or better than 60 percent for the majority of the first half.
It wasn't just the outside shooting, though. Vanderbilt scored 34 points in the paint. Jalen Washington was a big problem for Auburn on the interior, scoring 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
Auburn committed five fouls in the second half before the under-16 timeout, as Vanderbilt built its lead as large as 15 points, and the Neville Arena crowd boisterously expressed its displeasure with the officiating.
The Commodores' percentages came down in the second half, though, as many of their open 3s simply missed. As bad as things were for Auburn on Tuesday night, they probably would have been a lot worse had Vanderbilt just hit a few more of its open shots.
Even when Vanderbilt hit a lull in the second half and Auburn's defense seemed to find some footing, a technical foul on Hall gave the Commodores a 4-point possession, all from free throws. Hall was hit with the technical with 14:53 left to play and did not check back in.
Auburn brought the lead down to 8 points before the under-8 timeout of the second half, but Vanderbilt point guard Tyler Tanner nailed a deep 3-pointer late in the shot clock and shushed the crowd.
MVP: TYLER TANNER
Pearl said this week that slowing down Tyler Tanner was the top priority for Auburn, and the sophomore point guard proceeded to have his fingerprints all over Vanderbilt's win.
Including a big 3-pointer to cut into Auburn's attempt at a run in the second half, Tanner scored a game-high 25 points, but was arguably more effective orchestrating Vanderbilt's offense to the tune of six assists.
Tanner also went 9-of-10 from the foul line in the final three minutes of the game and dished the assist for Vanderbilt's late 3-pointer that felt like the dagger.
UP NEXT
Auburn has a tough task on the road against another ranked SEC team Saturday: No. 21 Arkansas, in a rematch of the Tigers' 95-73 win in Neville Arena last month.
Auburn then heads to Mississippi State next Wednesday before hosting No. 25 Kentucky.
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Why Steven Pearl said he ‘didn’t earn’ late technical foul
By Peter Rauterkus
al.com
After Auburn’s 84-76 loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, Tigers head coach Steven Pearl told reporters that his team needs to do a better job of controlling its emotions and not interacting with the officials.
Those things hurt Auburn in the loss, as it was called for two technical fouls and both were for arguing with the referees. The more costly one came late in the game, when Pearl was assessed a technical with 1:42 remaining as Auburn trailed by nine.
Pearl told reporters after the game that he told the official, “That was a big call,” after Auburn was called for a foul on Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner. The official, Pearl claimed, said the technical foul was for cursing, which Pearl said he didn’t do.
“I was mic’d up tonight so maybe I gotta check the feed,” Pearl said. “But I asked my bench, like, did I cuss at him? And they said no. So, really disappointed.”
It was one of two technical fouls by Auburn in the second half. The first came on Keyshawn Hall at the 14:53 mark, and that one also came after Hall engaged with the officials after a foul called on him.
While Pearl said the team needs to do a better job of controlling its emotions and not interacting with officials, he said he’d never berate or curse at referees.
“I’ve tried to pride myself in not really getting after the officials. I just slap the video board to try and take my frustration on something,” Pearl said. “I got a lot of respect for those guys, and I would never berate them or curse at them like that. So yeah, didn’t think I earned that one.”
Auburn’s loss to Vanderbilt marked the Tigers’ third defeat in a row, dropping them to 14-10 overall and 5-6 in SEC play.
Auburn’s next game is set for Saturday night against Arkansas. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on SEC Network.
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Why were Keyshawn Hall’s minutes limited against Vanderbilt? Steven Pearl explains
By Peter Rauterkus
al.com
On most nights, Keyshawn Hall is the best player on the floor for Auburn, at least on offense. Against Vanderbilt, head coach Steven Pearl decided in the second half that the Tigers’ best chance to win was without their leading scorer.
Hall played just 26 minutes in Auburn’s 84-76 loss to Vanderbilt and sat out for the final 12:38. He finished the game with 13 points on 3-for-13 shooting.
"It was just a coach’s decision," Pearl told reporters postgame. “I just wanted to go with the group that I thought was gonna help us get back in the game.”
Auburn trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, but cut Vanderbilt’s lead down to four at one point. The Tigers couldn’t do enough to flip the result, but they showed some life later in the second half.
Two minutes before Hall was taken out of the game for the final time, he was assessed a technical foul for arguing with the officials. Pearl, who also received a technical foul in the second half, said after the game that Auburn needs to do a better job of controlling its emotions and not interacting with the officials.
When he was on the floor, Hall had trouble scoring the way he normally does. He had 13 points and knocked down three of his five 3-pointers, but struggled around the basket.
Hall missed all eight of his 2-point shot attempts, an area he typically thrives in. He also shot just five free throws, and three of them came on a 3-point attempt.
“Vanderbilt did a really good job, every time he had the ball, just plugging the paint. Made it really difficult for him,” Pearl said. “And our offense wasn’t really in sync when he was on the floor.”
It’s hard to beat ranked teams when your best player has a game like the one Hall had. That was the case for Auburn against Vanderbilt, which ultimately led to Pearl choosing to finish the game without Hall.
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Everything Steven Pearl said after Auburn's frustrating loss to Vanderbilt
By Nathan King
Auburn is in serious danger of losing four straight immediately following a four-game winning streak. The Tigers fell 84-76 at home to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night after some major offensive struggles in the first half. Auburn shot just 11-of-27 at the rim, and leading scorer Keyshawn Hall was 0-of-8 from 2-point range before sitting out the final nine minutes after a technical foul.
Here's everything Steven Pearl said after the Tigers' first back-to-back home loss in five years.
OPENING REMARKS ...
"Credit to Vanderbilt. They did a great job. Came out and played really well early. I thought we had a great environment tonight, again. I just want to continue to thank our fans for hanging in there with this team as we're trying to work through some things. They did their part, we didn't do ours. For that, I apologize. I've got to do a better job as their coach in these situations.
"I thought Vanderbilt came out -- that's the second game in a row where we had a defensive breakdown on the second possession. They make a 3, and that does wonders for your confidence when you're able to come out and hit your first shot like that. That was a big start. They had some real step-up from their bigs. Washington and McGlockton played great. McGlockton had some big ones in the first half to keep us round around 8-10. Washington has made six 3s on the year, and he makes two.
"They had some real step-up. Tanner does a great job; got to the foul line 13 times, had six assists, one turnover. We didn't do a good enough job disrupting them defensively. That's on me: I've got to switch some things up defensively in some of these games. We did that in the last 10 minutes and it was effective, but we've got to do that earlier. Offensively, I just thought in the first half -- we were 4-of-18 from 2. One of our biggest emphasises was attacking the paint, and I thought we did that a lot tonight.
"I thought we should have gotten to the foul line more in the first half, just based on how aggressive we were attacking downhill. The lack of us getting to the foul line led to some frustration, and it kind of carried over. We've got to do a better job controlling our emotions and not interacting with the officials as much -- because they have a tough job. The last eight minutes, that group we had on the floor did a better job fighting back and putting us in a position to cut it to 4. We get a stop, and we have a shot to cut it to 2. They did a great job executing down the stretch.
"Really disappointing result. We continue to have great opportunities in front of us. We've just got to find ways to -- we've got to improve, we've got to get better."
ON THE DEFENSE'S STRUGGLES ...
"We did a good job on Nickel -- 3-for-12, only 10 points. Tanner is 6-for-16, but he gets to the foul line 13 times. We talked about limiting those two. He got to the foul line probably six times late. We did a decent job on those two. They had just had real step-up from some of their other guys. Good teams will do that. Washington having 22, that wasn't something that was on my bingo card. Credit to him, he played great.
"I'll have to watch the film and just kind of see. But I thought the effort was there. I thought the execution wasn't. But part of that is on me, too. I've got to do some things defensively, too, to get us a little more active, flying around and trying to be a little more aggressive like we were at the end. We've got to do some more of that moving forward. That's on me as their coach. I've got to do a better job of putting them in positions to make plays."
ON KEYSHAWN HALL BEING BENCHED ...
"Yeah, I just went with the guys that I thought put us in the best position to get back in the game. We end up cutting it to four, and that group did a really good job of just grinding and fighting and clawing back in. Vanderbilt did a really good job, every time he had the ball, just plugging the paint. Made it really difficult for him. And our offense wasn't really in sync when he was on the floor.
"So, wanted to give us a different look and went with those guys. I thought we had a lot of good minutes from Elyjah. I thought Elyjah played well. Obviously, he didn't shoot it great. But he got eight big rebounds and was really aggressive. It was just a coach's decision. I just wanted to go with the group that I thought was gonna help us get back in the game."
ON TAHAAD PETTIFORD'S GAME ...
"He's had two pretty good offensive game. Another game where, you know, if he's 1-6 from 3, I thought two or three of them were down. Four assists, one turnover. He's had 11 assists and three turnovers in the last two games. That's good.
"Tahaad took some coaching this week about his off-ball positioning, and he did such a great job in practice this week of trying to coach guys through things. I just want to give him some credit on that, because I've been pretty harsh on Tahaad in some of these pressers, because he's one of my best players and I expect a lot out of them. But I thought he really battled tonight. I thought he really put in a great effort.
"That's something we're going to need from him moving forward. I'm glad he's playing with a little more confidence. He did our best job getting downhill and finishing at the rim. I think he was 6-12 on 2s and got to the foul line. Did a good job of getting us back into it. And I thought he had some ones that were, you know, halfway in down the stretch that could have changed the game."
EFFORT NOT AN ISSUE ON DEFENSE? ...
"Yeah, we just got to stay consistent. Like, I know people are going to be panicking right now. But, if you look going into this game, based on our adjusted efficiency, we've been the second-best team in our conference going into this game. So while the results haven't been there, this team has continued to get better. We got to just trust what we're doing, but we also got to tweak some of the things that we're doing defensively, to try and be a little more aggressive in some of the things that we're doing to give us an opportunity to make plays and not let teams be more comfortable in what they're doing. We've shown that we've been able to win some games with our defense this year when our offense wasn't going. We didn't do that tonight. We shot 32% in the first half, and they shot 57. So they did a really good job of executing in the first half and our defense just wasn't as good as what it was in the last 10 minutes. So I got to do a better job getting these guys prepared, and I got to do a better job of making adjustments in-game to give us a better chance to win these ones."
ON WHAT LED TO HIS TECHNICAL FOUL ...
"I said, 'That was a big call,' because on the pressure when they called the foul on Tanner, he had already passed the ball. So I thought there was no advantage, there was no disadvantage to the contact that we had in the trap. I thought since he got off of it, I didn't think the call needed to happen. Usually they call those things when there's an advantage for the defense, if that makes sense, right? So I thought since he got rid of it, I didn't think he needed to call that in that moment. As he's running down, I said, that was a big call. And he T'd me up and he said I cussed at him.
"I was mic'd up tonight, so maybe I gotta check the feed. I asked my bench, did I cuss at him? And they said no, so really disappointed. I've tried to pride myself in not really getting after the officials. I just slapped the video board to try and take my frustration on something. I mean, didn't curse at him. I just said that was a big call, man. It went from a 6-point game, and then I think they got a stop and came down and scored again. So it just felt like a big shift in momentum on a call that I didn't think needed to happen. Those guys have a really difficult job. There was a lot of contact in that game. And, disappointed though, because I got a lot of respect for those guys and I would never berate them or curse at them like that. So yeah, didn't think I earned that one."
ON ANOTHER POOR START ...
"Yeah, I mean, (the) Alabama game, we were up 10, so that wasn't really an issue. At Tennessee, we got down 14. Texas, we got down 14, right? And then tonight, we get down 15 in the second half. We might have to switch up some things. I don't know if that's the answer. It'd be helpful if we could win a tip. I feel like we lose one every game, and they get the first possession. We've got to do a better job starting off defensively and getting stops. In that four-game stretch where we won four games, one of the commonalities was we got a stop on our first possession in all four of those games. So, we've got to do a better job starting out games because in this league, there's a lot of good teams, and if you get in a double-digit hole, it's really hard to come out. So, we've got to do a better job of getting off to better starts, and three of our last four, we got off to bad starts."
ON LOSING BACK-TO-BACK HOME GAMES ...
"I've got to think about Arkansas because they're really good. For us, it's like, we can't get too focused on games three or four down the road. We've got to get ready for Arkansas, and we've got to find a way to have a great practice on Thursday. But protecting home court is really important. It's disappointing because we had two teams that were really good, that had good analytics, that could have really helped our résumé, and we lost to both. So, missed opportunities there, but we've got to find a way to steal a couple on the road, and then, like you said, try and protect home court later in the season. But the only way we're going to be able to do that is if we refocus and come back ready to go on Thursday."
ON ELYJAH FREEMAN BEING +8 ...
"He's coachable, plays hard, does all the little things that we ask of him, and I know he has so much more to offer offensively that I'm really excited to tap into at some point. But he's a good teammate. He's been patient. He's waited his turn. I love that he was able to play more tonight and be effective, only had one foul tonight. It's great to have him out there because he rebounds the basketball. He's got great length. To be plus eight in an eight-point loss, that's significant, so that's something we've got to look more into and look to try and get him some more minutes."
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3 Concerning Takeaways From Auburn's Brutal 84-76 Loss to No. 19 Vanderbilt
By Gunner Norene
The Auburn Tigers dropped their third consecutive game on Tuesday night, falling to No. 19 Vanderbilt, 84-76, in Neville Arena.
According to Matthew Wallace of the Auburn Villager, the game marked the first time Auburn has lost back-to-back home games since 2021, which was during a season with a limited crowd due to COVID. Furthermore, 247Sports’ Nathan King pointed out that it had been nine years (2017) since the Tigers last lost back-to-back games on their home floor with a full-capacity Neville Arena.
Auburn dug itself a deep hole from the opening tip, as the Commodores built a quick 9-2 lead within the first three minutes of action and led for just over 38 total minutes. The Tigers only held a lead over Vanderbilt for 20 seconds, which came when Auburn was up 19-18 with nine minutes remaining in the first half.
From then, Vanderbilt never really looked back, as the Commodores even extended their lead to 15 points at one point in the opening 20 minutes of play.
There are many conclusions one could make from this loss, but let’s take a look at three concerning takeaways that emerged on Tuesday.
Where is the Leadership?
Think back to recent years of Auburn Basketball, and some of the best players that have come through the Plains over the last 5-7 seasons. What comes to mind?
Johni Broome. Dylan Cardwell. Denver Jones. Jared Harper – just to name a few. The list goes on.
What is a constant theme that each one of those former players has in common? Yes, there are extremely talented basketball players on the court, but they also served as massive leaders on their respective teams.
This year’s squad of Tigers seems to lack a true leader. In terms of players, not coaches or supporting staff, there doesn’t seem to be someone who “rallies the troops” or takes control of the locker room in times that may require it. Auburn doesn’t have someone like Cardwell, whom the rest of the team respects, admires, looks up to, and holds in high regard as a valuable leader.
Some have shown glimpses at times, including Keyshawn Hall, KeShawn Murphy, or even Kevin Overton, but none of them have evolved into a steady leader for this basketball team.
Tahaad Pettiford was often viewed as the assumed leader, considering he was the only returnee from last year’s Final Four team, but the sophomore doesn’t seem to be taking that role – at least not yet.
And the lack of leadership shows in crunch time and important late-game situations. If Auburn wishes to right the ship and get this season back on track, a true leader needs to make his presence known soon
Consistently Inconsistent
After riding a four-game winning streak heading into Knoxville, Tenn., last weekend, the Tigers have somewhat fallen apart in the last three outings.
The season seemed to take off when Auburn invaded Gainesville and claimed its first win at Florida in 30 years, which appears to be the best team in the SEC, before returning home and defeating Texas the following game week. However, instead of building on a historic victory over the Gators at a time when they were playing some of their basketball, Auburn has simply regressed once again.
There are plenty of opportunities that lie ahead for Auburn to garner more resume-building wins, but one of the most frustrating aspects of this team is the inconsistencies that continue to arise night in and night out.
Lack of an Identity
In reality, it doesn’t seem like Auburn exactly has an identity on either end of the floor.
On the offensive end, the Tigers showed in their win over Florida that they could compete with teams that may present size challenges and talented big men down low. Auburn proved to itself that it can go toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s best teams if it plays with relentless effort on defense, attacks the rim, and crashes the glass effectively.
However, the Tigers have also displayed the inability to finish around the basket, and they often become stagnant in crucial moments. Additionally, Auburn has a tendency to play ISO-ball in panic situations, whether it be Hall of Pettiford, which really seems to plummet offensive production.
In terms of defense, the Tigers are extremely inconsistent while guarding, and head coach Steven Pearl has called out his team’s defensive effort multiple times in recent press conferences.
Auburn can’t seem to generate stops when needed most, and defensive breakdowns have haunted the Tigers in recent games, especially against Alabama on Saturday.
The Tigers need to find an identity quickly, as March is quickly approaching, if they want to make a run of any sort.
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