Fly War Eagle
Fansided

Auburn Basketball: Tigers vs Texas Southern Final Score and Game Recap

By Nicholas Ian Allen

facebooktwitterreddit

The Auburn basketball team lived dangerously, but overcame a double-digit deficit for the second straight game to defeat Texas Southern 61-60. The win was the third straight for the Tigers, who moved to 6-5 this season.

With less than a minute to play, Auburn had the lead and the ball, but a missed shot by Antoine Mason led to a foul on Cinmeon Bowers with 0:20.3 left. TSU guard Deverell Biggs knocked down two free throws to give Texas Southern a 60-59 lead.

K.C. Ross-Miller was fouled with 0:13.6 left, and hit both free throws.

On the following possession, Texas Southern nearly turned the ball over, but a tie-up on the floor gave them possession with 0:04 left in the game. Bowers stole the in-bounds pass, was fouled and went to the free throw line with a chance to ice the game.

More from Auburn Basketball

After missing the first free throw, Bowers intentionally missed the second, but it didn’t hit the rim and gave TSU a chance to set itself up for a desperation heave to win the game. Luckily for Auburn, the long shot was off the mark and the Tigers escaped with a victory.

“We’re not a very good basketball team right now,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said while SEC Network cameras were rolling. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Texas Southern came in to Auburn Arena with a 2-8 record, but one of those two wins came in East Lansing Saturday night against the No. 25 Michigan State Spartans. TSU also spent the early part of their season playing top-flight competition including Florida, SMU, Tennessee, Gonzaga and Baylor, all on the road.

Simply put, Texas Southern wasn’t intimidated by a trip to Auburn Arena.

Auburn played a sloppy and lethargic first half, and committed ten turnovers in the first twenty minutes of the game, but only trailed 28-27 at halftime.

The sluggish start bled over to the second half, and Texas Southern jumped out to an 11-point lead with a 12-2 run on a handful of easy baskets in the first five minutes of the second half.

At that point, Auburn had connected on just nine of their first 34 shots (26.5%). They finished 20-for-56 (35.7%).

Antoine Mason missed his first five shots of the game before finally nailing a three-pointer late in the first half. In the second, Mason passed the 2,000-point mark for his career when he hit a layup to cut the deficit to 44-40. The transition basket followed a three-pointer by Mason, and also gave the crowd some energy that it desperately needed.

Live Feed

Auburn vs. Texas A&M Prediction, Odds, Trends and Key Players for College Football Week 4
Auburn vs. Texas A&M Prediction, Odds, Trends and Key Players for College Football Week 4 /

Betsided

  • 2023 Week 4 AP Poll Top 25: Every SEC team’s highest, lowest spot on ballotSouth Bound & Down
  • SEC Football: Florida, LSU rise in Week 4 2023 power rankingsSouth Bound & Down
  • SEC Tailgating: Where should you go in each town?South Bound & Down
  • SEC football standings based on yards per play through Week 2FanSided
  • Auburn Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24 seasonBusting Brackets

    • Auburn slowly climbed back in the game, but Texas Southern seemed to make a big shot every time they needed it and finished 23-for-55 from the field (41.8%).

    Mason finally gave Auburn a lead with a layup with 1:25 left to play. The senior guard had 13 points on 5-for-13 shooting, and hit three of six three-pointers. He also had three rebounds and two steals.

    Cinmeon Bowers finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds, good for his 7th double-double of the season. The junior big man also had three blocks, three steals and an assist.

    Senior guard K.T. Harrell led the Tigers with 14 points (as usual), and did much of the heavy lifting in the first half with ten points.

    Perhaps because of his great game Saturday, point guard Malcolm Canada earned the start in place of Tahj Shamsid-Deen (who fouled out with zero points), but did not score in the first half. Much like he did in the 89-88 double overtime victory over Xavier, Canada gave the team a boost of energy in the second half of the game.

    He finished with five points, four rebounds, four assists and a big block, but one again impacted the game far beyond the stat sheet.

    The Tigers will take a break for the Christmas holiday before hosting Middle Tennessee State at home December 29.

    Next: Auburn Coaching Staff Updates, Rumors & Speculation

    More from Fly War Eagle

    Home/Auburn Basketball