NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nate Ament scored 27 points as the 25th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers rallied from an 11-point deficit and beat Auburn 72-62 Thursday to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
The fifth-seeded Volunteers (22-10) will play No. 22 Vanderbilt on Friday afternoon for a slot in the semifinals.
Ament started and played 32 minutes after sitting out the last two games with an injured right knee and ankle. Tennessee wouldn't have had a chance without the freshman.
Auburn led 49-39 on a bucket by Keyshawn Hall when Ament started a 22-2 run for Tennessee by scoring the first 10 points. Ja'Kobi Gillespie's layup then tied it up at 51 with 7:34 left, and Amari Evans' free throw gave the Vols their first lead since the opening minutes.
Ament, who scored 17 of his 27 in the second half, capped the spurt with a free throw off a technical foul on Auburn coach Steven Pearl for a 61-51 lead with 3:56 left.
Gillespie finished with 15 points for Tennessee.
No. 12 seed Auburn now has lost four of six games, leaving the Tigers (17-16) hoping their strength of schedule and a win at SEC regular-season champ Florida in mid-January pushes them into the NCAA Tournament.
Tahaad Pettiford led Auburn with 28 points, and Hall added 10.
Pearl said Tennessee “punked” his Tigers on Jan. 31 when the Vols never trailed winning that game.
This time, the Tigers controlled the boards early and led 32-25 at halftime. But when Tennessee went on its run, the Tigers turned it over four times, had a shot clock violation and went more than six minutes without a point until Pettiford's 3-pointer with 3:50 left.
Auburn goes home to hope and learn its postseason future.
Tennessee plays No. 22 Vanderbilt for the second time in seven days.
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