Auburn Basketball: Tigers Host Alabama in Pivotal SEC Game

Despite fielding an undermanned squad, the Auburn basketball team defeated a tough Georgia team 69-68. Now, attention turns to hated rival Alabama and drawing even in the 2015 basketball series.

Auburn Tigers (12-13, 4-8) vs. Alabama Crimson Tide. (15-10, 5-7)

Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Start Time: 8:00 PM Central
Location: Auburn, AL
Arena: Auburn Arena
TV Info: ESPNU
Live Stream: WatchESPN, ESPN3.com
Odds (VegasInsider.com): Alabama (-1)

It’s always important when Auburn and Alabama meet in anything. Football. Basketball. Tennis. Hopscotch. Doesn’t matter. The rivalry is one of the greatest in college sports whatever is at stake.

Feb 14, 2015; Athens, GA, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl reacts during the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum. Auburn defeated Georgia 69-68. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

But tonight’s game between the Tigers and Crimson Tide has major implications beyond its typical rivalry nature.

Bruce Pearl has plans to build Auburn basketball into a consistent winning program, and a major step to doing that is becoming eligible for the post-season. At 12-13 following a huge 69-68 upset victory over Georgia in Athens, the Tigers can pull to .500 with a win.

And with five regular season games left, Auburn would need a few more upsets to sneak into the post-season and avoid Pearl’s first losing season as a college head coach.

“Right now it makes this next game a must-win situation. It is a rival game for us, but now it gets us to .500 (overall). It keeps us in the loop for post season as far as being above .500,” Pearl said during a Monday media session. ” … If we beat Alabama we are at .500. You have to look at the rest of the games and say, ‘Can we somehow win half of these games?'”

On the other side of the court, Alabama’s Anthony Grant is fighting for his job following six seasons of largely mediocre results.

Following a 76-68 loss to Vanderbilt Saturday at home that dropped Bama’s record to 15-10 overall, 5-7 in SEC play and may have sunken the Tide’s chances of an NCAA Tournament appearance, the sharks are circling in Tuscaloosa. With the loss, the Crimson Tide are 2-4 since they defeated the Tigers 57-55 on January 24.

“It’s February,” Grant said following the loss to the Commodores. “Right now, we’ve got six games that remain and a third of the conference season to play. This was a tough loss. I’m hoping they are realizing the opportunity that was wasted today.

“Sometimes with young guys, you get in that mode that it’s another game tomorrow, another game in a couple of days and everything will be okay. Just the urgency you’ve got to have. I’ll look at the film, but I didn’t think we had the urgency that we needed to have to win that game today.”

Urgency shouldn’t be an issue for either squad tonight at Auburn Arena. Anthony Grant is fighting for his job. Bruce Pearl is fighting to keep a losing record off his career resume, to get his seniors to the post-season, and to pick up his first win over Alabama since taking the job as Auburn basketball coach.

Auburn

#5 Cinmeon Bowers, F, Jr., 6-foot-7, 278 pounds, 13.0 PPG, 10.8 RPG
#25 Jordon Granger, F, Jr., 6-foot-8, 210 pounds, 4.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG
#1 K.T. Harrell, G, Sr., 6-foot-4, 212 pounds, 17.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG
#12 K.C. Ross-Miller, G, Sr., 6-foot-0, 178 pounds, 6.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG
#14 Antoine Mason, G, Sr., 6-foot-1, 216 pounds, 14.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG

Alabama

#10 Jimmie Taylor, F, So., 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, 4.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG
#11 Shannon Hale, F, So., 6-foot-8, 226 pounds, 8.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG
#21 Rodney Cooper, G, Jr., 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, 10.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG
#20 Levi Randolph, G, Sr., 6-foot-5, 208 pounds, 14.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG
#5 Justin Coleman, G, Fr., 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, 4.8 PPG, 1.0 RPG

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Auburn Basketball: Tigers Host Alabama in Pivotal Rivalry Game

By Nicholas Ian Allen | Feb 17, 2015

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