Auburn drops 3rd game in a row: 84-76 to #19 Vanderbilt – WBMA

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by Jeff Speegle
The Auburn Tigers are in a tailspin. The Jungle, once a feared place to play, hasn't been so much lately. The Tigers lost to Alabama Saturday and lost to #19 Vanderbilt Tuesday night. It's the first time since 2021 they've lost back-to-back games at home. It's their third league loss of the season at Neville. The Tigers' losing streak is now three games. Auburn falls to 14-10, 5-6 in the SEC. It was Vandy's 1st win at Auburn since 2016.
"We gotta stay consistent. I know people are gonna be panicking right now," Tigers Head Coach Steven Pearl said. "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. So we gotta just trust what we're doing, but we also gotta tweak some of the things that we're doing defensively and be a little more aggressive in some of the things that we're doing."
The Tigers got off to a sluggish start, falling behind quickly 9-2. That hole grew to 42-31 at the half. That deficit grew to 15 by the 14:53 mark of the 2nd half.
Auburn did get on a run late. A Tahaad Pettiford bucket cut Vandy's lead to 70-66 with 2:42 to go. But Vandy responded with a couple of free throws by Tyler Tanner and then a three in the corner from AK Okereke to push that lead to 75-66 with 1:48 to go.
Tanner led the Commodores with 25 points, including a 12-of-13 performance from the free throw line. Jalen Washington scored 22 for Vandy.
Pettiford, after hitting for 25 against Alabama, scored 21 to lead the Tigers. Four other Tigers finished in double figures. Keyshawn Hall scored 13 points, but did not have a good shooting night, going 3-of-13 from the field. In fact, Hall spent most of the game down the stretch on the bench as Steven Pearl looked for a combination that could get the Tigers back in the game.
"Yeah, I just went with the guys that I thought put us in the best position to get back in the game," Pearl said. "We end up cutting it to four. And that group did a really good job of just grinding and fighting and clawing back in. I mean, our offense wasn't really in sync when he was on the floor. So I wanted to give us a different look."
Keshawn Murphy scored 12 points. Sebastian Williams-Adams scored 11, while Kevin Overton had 10, but only two points in the second half.
Auburn goes on the road Saturday to play #21 Arkansas. a team it beat 95-73 at Neville Arena January 10. But since then the Hogs have won six of their last eight. Tip time is 7:30 at Bud Walton Arena.
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