Auburn’s hopes of escaping Nashville with a victory got dashed with Ezra Manjon sprinting 94 feet to the basket with a running layup as the clock expired at Memorial Gym. Vanderbilt won its fifth-game consecutive game in Southeastern Conference play with a 67-65 triumph on Saturday against the Tigers.

“Once again, really disappointed. I thought we played well defensively,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl told reporters after the game via Zoom. “Held Vanderbilt six below their number at home. Held them to 20 field goals. I’m not sure Vanderbilt has won a game when they only had 20 field goals.”

Auburn trailed 31-27 after a buzzer-beating three by Allen Flanigan, who finished the contest with five points on 2-6 shooting. The Tigers shot 11-30 at the half and were 2-10 from three. Vandy went 9-30 from the field but was 5-10 on threes.

Johni Broome scored eight of Auburn’s first 10 points in the second half while Auburn took the lead. Broome connected on a dunk with 6:03 left to give the Tigers a 57-54 lead. Broome led the Tigers with 17 points on 8-15 shooting, 1-3 from three, and was 3-4 from the free throw line.

Broome got outscored by Vandy’s big man Liam Robbins. Broome mostly guarded Robbins, who shot 3-10 from the field. Broome made Robbins uncomfortable all game, however, Robbins shot 20 free throws and hit 17 of them.

Speaking of free throws, the Tigers shot 5-10 from the charity stripe compared to 20-27 for Vandy. The free throw disparity is intriguing, considering that Auburn outscored Vandy 40-22 in the paint.

“No explanation,” Pearl told reporters when asked about the free throw disparity. “There really isn’t much of an explanation for it.”

Perhaps the biggest miss from the free-throw line was by Wendell Green with 1:53 left. Auburn could’ve gone ahead by two points if Green made both free throws.

Green finished with five points on 2-14 shooting and was 0-3 from three and 1-2 from the line. Auburn led 62-61 after Green’s free throw miss. Vandy scored the next four points with free throws by Robbins and Manjon to give the Commodores a three-point lead.

K.D. Johnson scored his biggest three points with less than 10 seconds left. Johnson tied the game at 65. Unfortunately, for Auburn, the layup by Manjon sent the Tigers back to the Plains with a loss. Auburn is 18-9 after the loss and 8-6 in conference action. Auburn will host Ole Miss Wednesday at Neville Arena.

“You win at the end by getting stops and getting to the free-throw line,” Pearl told reporters. “We didn’t even get in the bonus in the second half.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group