No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday was ever so close to upsetting No. 1 Auburn. The top-seeded Tigers may have gotten some help from a favorable whistle down the stretch.
Tennessee led Auburn 51-49 with 1:32 left in the contest at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala. The Volunteers inbounded to big man Felix Okpara coming off a timeout. Tigers star Johni Broome grabbed Okpara as the Vols’ play was developing.
The contact forced Okpara to lose balance, leading the referees to penalize him for traveling. ESPN announcer Jay Bilas was in disbelief that the referees missed the foul on Broome, whom Bilas believed was initially trying to foul Okpara intentionally.
Jay Bilas is also thinking the same about officiating in this Tennessee vs. Auburn game.
Both ways 😂 pic.twitter.com/wS1Gl8GLck
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) January 26, 2025
Auburn guard Miles Kelly punished Tennessee with a three-pointer a few plays later.
MILES KELLY PUTS AUBURN UP FOR GOOD AS THE TOP-RANKED TIGERS HOLD OFF #6 TENNESSEE IN THE JUNGLE!
pic.twitter.com/4E9ds5k4yx— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) January 26, 2025
Tennessee senior Zakai Zeigler then missed a go-ahead three with a few seconds left. Broome grabbed the rebound appeared to travel while evading Vols defenders. But the referees let the play go as Broome threw the ball up the court to seal the victory for Auburn.
Hell of a game at Auburn. Don’t mind Zakai going for the win here. Broome was fantastic. But how in the world did the refs, who were awful down the stretch, miss this blatant Broome walk on the rebound? So bad. pic.twitter.com/GnxlcyYKo6
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 26, 2025
Broome led Auburn with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks off the bench in the 53-51 Tigers win.
While the final result didn’t go Tennessee’s way, the Volunteers were ever so close to knocking off the No. 1 seed on the road. A few calls may have been the difference.
