Jalen Washington added 22 points and Devin McGlockton scored 12 for Vanderbilt (20-4, 7-4 SEC), which rebounded from a one-point home loss to Oklahoma on Saturday. Tyler Nickel had 10 points for the Commodores, who won at Auburn for the first time since February 2016.
Tahaad Pettiford led Auburn (14-10, 5-6) with 21 points, followed by Keyshawn Hall’s 13 and KeShawn Murphy’s 12. Sebastian Williams-Adams chipped in 11 points and Kevin Overton had 10 for the Tigers, who have dropped three straight.
After holding an 11-point halftime lead, Vanderbilt extended the margin to 47-33 on Tanner’s three-point play with 18:19 remaining.
Elyjah Freeman’s layup cut Auburn’s deficit to 10, but Tanner’s jumper and Washington’s free throws extended Vanderbilt’s lead to 61-47 at the 9:09 mark. From there, Murphy’s layup capped a 6-0 run to bring the Tigers back within single digits.
After Vanderbilt grew the lead back to 14, Auburn answered with an 8-0 run, as Overton’s layup trimmed the deficit to 68-62 with 4:24 left.
Auburn narrowed the gap to four, but two free throws by Tanner sparked a 7-0 run to give Vanderbilt a 77-66 lead with 1:42 remaining.
Vanderbilt jumped out to a 9-2 lead before Overton’s 3-pointer pulled Auburn within two with 13:44 left in the first half.
Auburn took its first lead when Hall made two free throws to put the Tigers ahead by a point at the 9:25 mark.
After Overton’s second 3-pointer knotted the score at 26, Tanner’s mid-range jumper and McGlockton’s layup gave the visitors a six-point lead with 4:30 remaining.
The Commodores grabbed their first double-digit lead, as McGlockton’s triple stamped a 7-0 run to give Vanderbilt a 39-28 advantage. Pettiford and McGlockton traded 3-pointers in the final minute, giving the Commodores a 42-31 halftime lead.
McGlockton and Washington led all scorers with 12 points each in the first half.
