Alabama Men’s Basketball Falls at Auburn, 84-63
The Alabama men's basketball team dropped an 84-63 decision at Auburn on Saturday night in Auburn Arena. It was the largest margin of defeat this season for the Crimson Tide, who fell to 13-8 overall and 4-4 in Southeastern Conference play.
Alabama was its own worst enemy on the night, matching its season high of 21 turnovers which resulted in a big 30-14 disadvantage in points off turnovers. The Tide finished the game shooting 44 percent (21-of-47) from the floor and 42 percent (8-of-19) from the three, while the Tigers (15-6, 4-4), connecting on 51 percent from the floor (30-of-58) and 59 percent from beyond the arc (13-of-22).
“First I want to congratulate Auburn,” head coach Avery Johnson said. “They played an extremely great game tonight, on both ends of the floor. They had more energy, they out-hustled us. They just did a great job. We didn’t play our best game today. We got off to a decent start, but they got us with their transition offense and obviously, their three-point shooting. We changed up our defense up a little bit there midway through the second half. I think we cut the lead to 11 then Harper shot a three and made it on us and we fouled him when we were trying to make a run. But give them all of the credit, we didn’t have our best night.”
Alabama began the game by scoring nine of the game’s first 13 points, however, Auburn took control of the game with a 21-2 run over a span of 4:46 to take a 25-11 lead at the 10:38 mark of the first half. The Tigers went on to hold a 20-point advantage, 48-28, at the half.
The Crimson Tide came out with energy to start the second half and was able to trim a 19-point lead to 11, 54-43, with just over 13 minutes remaining. However, Auburn’s Jared Harper hit a three and was fouled, which sparked a 7-0 run. The Tigers’ went on to lead by as many as 26 points en route to the 21-point win.
Sophomore John Petty Jr. led the Tide with 18 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard Kira Lewis Jr. was the only other UA player in double figures with 13 points. Senior forward Donta Hall grabbed a team-leading 10 rebounds and finished with eight points.
Auburn's leading scorer on the season, senior Bryce Brown, led the Tigers as he went 5-of-7 beyond the arc and finished with a game-high 23 points.
Alabama will return to Coleman Coliseum to host Georgia on Wednesday, Feb. 6. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 8 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.
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