James leads No. 2 Tennessee over No. 25 Auburn, 46-43

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Josiah-Jordan Jamesscored 15 points to lead No. 2 Tennessee to a 46-43 win over No. 25Auburn Saturday in a game in which every point was difficult andnothing flowed.

The Volunteers (19-4, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) shot just 27%from the field and 9.5% from the 3-point line. They were recoveringfrom a Wednesday loss to Florida in which they shot 28%.

The Tigers (17-6, 7-3) were led by Johni Broome with 11 pointsand K.D. Johnson off the bench with 10 points. LSU managed only 24%from the field and 11% from the 3-point line.

Jaylin Williams made two free throws with 2:47 to play cutTennessee’s lead to 40-38. Santiago Vescovi hit his first 3-pointerof the game and got a four-point play out of it for a 44-38 lead. A3-pointer by Wendell Green Jr. cut the advantage to 44-41 with 30seconds left.

A turnover on the inbounds play gave Auburn the ball with 23seconds to play. Broome got a tip-in to make it a one-point game,and Zakai Zeigler made two free throws.

Green’s last-second 3-point to tie clanked out.

Auburn scored eight straight points to start the game. Tennesseefollowed with a six-point run and an eight-point spurt early in thesecond half. Those were the longest runs of the game.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Tennessee was in the No. 2 spot in the poll for two days beforefalling at Florida. Under coach Rick Barnes, the Vols now have 25wins over teams ranked in the Top 25. … Auburn had been clinging tothe elite at No. 25 this week. The Tigers have been ranked as highas No. 11 in the fifth week of the season.

STAT SNACKS

Since statistics started being kept in 1999-2000, Tennessee ison pace to be the all-time leader in field-goal percentage (.348,Stanford, 1999-2000, is second .352) and 3-point defense (.225,Norfolk State 2004-05, .253 is second). … Through 22 games, thesimilarities between last year’s Vols point guard Kennedy Chandler(now with the Memphis Grizzlies) and this year’s Zakai Ziegler arestriking (points per game: Chandler 13.5, Ziegler 11.4; rebounds:3.0, 3.0; assists: 4.95, 5.05).

UP NEXT

Auburn: The Tigers will host Texas A&M on Tuesday night.

Tennessee: The Vols will tackle in-state rival Vanderbilt inNashville on Wednesday.