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Auburn Basketball: Tigers Can’t Finish, Fall to Alabama at Home

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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The Auburn basketball team led 36-33 at halftime, but a sloppy second half doomed the Tigers in a 79-68 loss to Alabama at Auburn Arena. 

Three days after a huge upset on the road against Georgia, Auburn fell flat in the second half Tuesday in a 79-68 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Despite a combined 45 points from Antoine Mason and K.T. Harrell, the Tigers have now lost five games in a row at Auburn Arena and are 12-14 overall and 4-9 in SEC play. 

Usually a weak offensive team, Alabama shot a red-hot 52.9% from the floor and 42.9% from the three-point line Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide dominated the glass as well – especially on the defensive end, out rebounding Auburn 40 to 26 overall and 31 to 20 on the defensive side.

“That’s about as bad as we’ve played,” Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl said following the loss. “We looked slow and poorly prepared. That’s my responsibility.”

Feb 17, 2015; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers guard Antoine Mason (14) takes a shot against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first half at Auburn Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

The SEC’s leading rebounder coming into the game, Cinmeon Bowers struggled on the boards early but recovered to grab seven boards. However, Bowers struggled several ways during the game.

The junior forward was 5-for-14 from the floor (including a last minute three-pointer), hit all three free throws – giving him 14 points on the night – and had three steals, but he also had four sloppy turnovers including an errant pass that sailed into the fifth row and had his pocket picked by Riley Norris after lazily bringing the ball up the court.

K.C. Ross-Miller also struggled. After scoring 21 points off the bench against Arkansas and 17 starting in place for the injured Tahj Shamsid-Deen against Georgia, Ross-Miller was shut out Tuesday night. The senior guard was 0-for-7 from the floor and was responsible for three turnovers. He led all players with five assists, however, and added a steal.

Harrell had seven points in the first half, but spent the last 8:27 on the bench after picking up two fouls. 

With Harrell sidelined early, Mason carried the load in the first half and had 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the floor over the game’s first 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the rest of the club shot just 4-for-19 (21.1%) over the same span and allowed Alabama to stay close.

Mason finished with 24 points, two steals and a rebound and Harrell had 21 points and four boards.

There were certainly bright spots. The crowd erupted following a beautiful alley-oop from K.C. Ross-Miller to Jordon Granger in the first half.

Someone had better check the roof at Auburn Arena. The crowd may have blown off after Granger threw down the dunk.

However, the hole in the roof let the air out of the building for the second half.

After seven ties and 14 lead changes, Alabama took the lead for good when Rodney Cooper made a layup with 15:19 to go make the score 47-46.

As for Alabama, Levi Randolph finally scored a basket at Auburn Arena. The Alabama senior had been 0-for-14 from the floor in his career against the Tigers in Auburn, but a first half jumper finally put an end to the streak. However, Randolph got hot in the second half and finished with 19 points.

With a win, the Tigers would have climbed back to .500 on the season and picked up some much needed momentum for a late season charge for the post-season.

Instead, Auburn was swept in the season series and are in serious danger of handing head coach Bruce Pearl the first losing season in his 20 years as a head coach. The Tigers must lick their wounds from tonight’s disappointing outcome and refocus on a strong finish to the season.

Of course, it doesn’t get any easier: Auburn travels to Rupp Arena to face 26-0 No. 1 Kentucky Saturday.

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