Auburn (12-2, 1-0) trailed by four with a little more than eight minutes to play. But the Tigers combined an aggressive defense and a tough inside game to outscore Vanderbilt 17-10 the rest of the way.

Killingsworth scored six points on two layups and a tip and Lewis Monroe hit a 3-pointer and a layup in the final minutes for the Tigers.

Monroe's layup with 1:16 to play put the Tigers ahead for good.

Vanderbilt's Brian Thornton kept the Commodores in the game with 23 points, including 19 in the second half. Matt Freije had 10 for the Commodores.

Auburn's strength inside was the difference as the Tigers outscored Vanderbilt 38-28 in the paint. The Tigers outrebounded the Commodores 34-33 and the Tigers' Kyle Davis blocked seven shots.

Auburn led 28-23 at halftime but the Commodores stormed back, outscoring the Tigers 13-6 in the first five minutes of the second half.

The Tigers got an emotional boost when forward Brandon Robinson came onto the court five minutes into the first half, drawing a loud roar from the Auburn crowd. Robinson was cleared to play before the game after being sidelined all season with eligibility questions.

The Tigers were trailing 9-7 at the time, but Robinson scored the next four points on his first two shots of the season, a layup and a dunk, and sparked Auburn to a 10-4 run over the next five minutes. Robinson finished with eight points.

Derrick Bird hit two of three 3-pointers and scored all of his 10 points in the first half. Marquis Daniels finished with 11 points for Auburn and Monroe had eight.