Top-ranked Auburn snaps back with a win over Vanderbilt

By Canadian Press on February 11, 2025.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) —

Denver Jones scored 21 points as No. 1 Auburn held off Vanderbilt 80-68 on Tuesday night to avoid the Tigers’ first losing skid of the season.

Now Auburn (22-2, 10-1) goes into Saturday’s big showdown for the top of the Southeastern Conference standings, supremacy in the state of Alabama and the top of the AP Top 25. The Tigers came into Tuesday night tied with No. 2 Alabama in league play.

Chaney Johnson finished with 20 points for Auburn, and Johni Broome had 17.

Vanderbilt (17-7, 5-6) took its first lead with a 3 by Jason Edwards early in the second. The Commodores last led 49-48 on a putback by Chris Manon.

Auburn answered with a 12-2 run to squelch Vanderbilt’s hopes at its biggest win this season.

Edwards finished with 13 points for Vanderbilt. AJ Hoggard and Devin McGlockton each added 10. McGlockton also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

NO. 3 FLORIDA 81, NO. 22 MISSISSIPPI ST. 68

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Denzel Aberdeen had a game-high 20 points and Walter Clayton Jr. added 19 points to lead No. 3 Florida to a victory over No. 22 Mississippi State.

Thomas Haugh scored 16 points for Florida (21-3, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) and Will Richard and Rueben Chinyelu each added 10.

Josh Hubbard led Mississippi State (17-7, 5-6) with 19 points while KeShawn Murphy had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Trailing by one at halftime, Florida exploded on a 17-0 run to open the second half and were never threatened the rest of the way.

The Gators shot 46% for the game and made 14 of 36 from 3-point range.

Mississippi State made 7 of 27 beyond the arc. The Bulldogs had 15 turnovers and outrebounded Florida 43-32.

NO. 15 KENTUCKY 75, NO. 5 TENNESSEE 64

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Ansley Almonor and Otega Oweh scored 13 points each and No. 15 Kentucky beat No. 5 Tennessee.

The Wildcats (17-7, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) completed a regular season sweep of the Volunteers. Kentucky also beat Tennessee 78-73 on Jan. 28 in Knoxville, and is now 7-1 against teams ranked in the Top 15 this season.

Koby Brea and Trent Noah added 11 points each. The Wildcats made 12 3-pointers, including three by Noah.

Zakai Zeigler scored 17 points to lead Tennessee (21-5, 7-5), Igor Milicic had 16 and nine rebounds, and Chaz Lanier added 10 points.

NO. 20 MICHIGAN 75, NO. 7 PURDUE 73

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Malik Beasley made seven 3-pointers and finished with 24 points, and Detroit built a franchise-record, 42-point halftime lead on the way to a romp over Chicago.

Detroit outscored the Bulls 71-29 in the first half, eclipsing the previous mark of 34 points against Chicago on March 23, 1969.

Beasley set a Detroit record for 3-pointers in a season with 212 after making 7 of 10. The previous mark was 211 by Saddiq Bey in 2021-22. Cade Cunningham added 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds as the Pistons came away with their most lopsided win of the season.

Tobias Harris scored 18 and Ausar Thompson finished with 16 points as the Pistons rolled to their third win in a row.

The Associated Press