How Auburn basketball defense, Wendell Green Jr. helped beat Tennessee for much-needed win

AUBURN — The score was tied on the road at Alabama on Wednesday.

Auburn basketball's Wendell Green Jr. dribbled up the court with the clock ticking down. Chris Moore screened Green's defender, which forced Alabama forward Nick Clowney to switch onto the craftier, quicker Green. It was the matchup the Tigers wanted.

Green dribbled toward the paint before snatching the ball back and pulling up for a midrange jumper. Green missed the would-be game-winner. Overtime began and it was the Crimson Tide that outlasted the Tigers, giving Auburn another devastating loss.

But fast-forward three days, and it was Green again serving as the closer for the Tigers, this time against Tennessee. He converted an and-one to put his team up by eight points with 1:37 left and went on to score four more points, including a couple of clutch free throws to end the Vols' hopes of a comeback.

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"I work a lot," Green said following Auburn's victory. "I work hard. I took that last shot at Alabama. My teammates, they want me to take that last shot. And that was my shot. They (were) like 'Dang, we thought it was good,' but you miss some, you make some, you know? You've just got to live and just keep working, and that's what I do. So, I'm in great position to close games.

"Might not always go my way, but I'm going to be me always."

Green finished with 24 points, one of four Tigers to log double figures. Johni Broome had 17, including two makes from beyond the 3-point arc, Allen Flanigan dropped 16 and Jaylin Williams ended with 13 points. It's the first time Auburn has had four players score 13 or more points since its 94-73 win over Georgia on Feb. 1.

This time it came against arguably the best defense in the country, though. Granted, the Vols were without the services of sophomore guard Zakai Zeigler, but it was still an impressive performance against a squad that has the No. 1 adjusted defensive efficiency in the country, according to KenPom.

But for coach Bruce Pearl, it wasn't the offense that finally pushed Auburn to a close win against a nationally-respected opponent. It was his team's showing on the defensive end down the stretch.

"We finally guarded at the end of the game, and Zep Jasper had a lot to do with it," Pearl said. "Zep stayed in there and did an unbelievable job on (Tennessee's Santiago) Vescovi. It was interesting because you'd think you'd put Wendell on him because of the size factor. And hey, Wendell went in there and guarded (Julian) Phillips. Put my smallest guy on a 6-8 guy.

"We held them without a field goal for the last six minutes, that's why we won the game."

Vescovi was lighting the Tigers up in the second half. He had 21 points with five minutes remaining, including a couple of sweat-inducing 3-pointers that threatened Auburn's thinning lead. But when Jasper checked in with 5:07 left, he shut Vescovi down. The Vols' guard didn't score again.

Before the win, the Tigers were 3-8 in their previous 11 games, with five of those losses coming by five or fewer points. Pearl doesn't think those defeats taught his team anything it didn't already know.

"I don't know that it helps us that much," Pearl said. "I think the only lesson would simply be, for me, is that they didn't score a field goal in the final six minutes. Everybody wants to focus on the final shot − we scored enough (to win) at West Virginia (on Jan. 28), Alabama (on Wednesday). ... Lot of plays to win the games, we just didn't get stops.

"That's it, period. Want to win? Get stops."

The Tigers will be the No. 7 seed in the SEC Tournament. Their opponent will be No. 10 Arkansas on Thursday (6 p.m. CT, SEC Network) in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball defense, Wendell Green Jr deliver vs Tennessee