Bruce Pearl gets sweet revenge as Auburn knocks off ranked Tennessee on the road

Bruce Pearl might not have wanted to admit it, but Auburn’s game at Tennessee on Tuesday had to mean a little bit more. Pearl took the Vols to the NCAA tournament every season during his six-year run at the school, a run that was prematurely ended when he was fired for having Aaron Craft at a barbecue and lying about it.

Pearl was promptly hit with a three-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA, which meant his sanctions would carry with him to another school. When it expired, Auburn scooped him up right away.

That is the context with which the Tigers headed into Knoxville to face No. 23 Tennessee. There was also this: Auburn hadn’t beaten the Vols in 20 years on their home floor.

You can bet there was a ton of vindication in Auburn’s 94-84 victory.

The Tigers blew open a close game in the final five minutes thanks to a barrage of three-pointers. Five of the Tigers’ nine threes on the night came with under six minutes left in the game. Freshman forward Chuma Okeke hit three of those clutch triples on his way to 11 points.

Backguard tandem Jared Harper and Bryce Brown led the way for Auburn with 18 points in the win. Wing Mustapha Heron had 16 points for the Tigers.

Meanwhile, this is a tough loss for Tennessee:

The Vols were picked to finish 13th in the SEC this year, but surged in the polls after beating Purdue, NC State, and Wake Forest while giving UNC all it could handle in a close road loss. KenPom gave Tennessee a 72 percent chance to win this game.

Auburn is now 13-1 without star center Austin Wiley and starting forward Danjel Purifoy, who were suspended following the FBI investigation into the program. With as much controversy as ever hanging around Pearl, he keeps winning basketball games. This one in particular must have felt special.