Alabama
Auburn
Tide Takes Control Early and Rolls by Auburn, 69-46
1/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Chris Woodfin
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. - The University of Alabama men's basketball team (10-4, 2-1 SEC) wasted little time in putting away the Auburn Tigers (10-5, 1-3 SEC), jumping out quickly and rolling to a 69-46 victory over the Tigers in front of a sell out crowd of 15,316 at Coleman Coliseum. The victory marks the Crimson Tide's biggest defeat of Auburn since the 1994 season when Bama defeated the Tigers by 28 points (83-55) in the SEC Tournament and is also the largest victory for Alabama over Auburn in Tuscaloosa since the 1975 season when the Tide notched a 77-53 over the Tigers.
Trailing 8-2 five minutes into the contest, Earnest Shelton and Antoine Pettway hit back-to-back three pointers to spark a 34-6 Alabama run that spanned nearly 15 minutes en route to a 19 point half-time advantage.
Auburn would never recover as the Tide controlled the second half, leading by as much as 26 points.
For the game Alabama shot 49 percent (25-51) from the field, including 57.1 percent (8-14) from the three point line, while holding Auburn to just 32.7 percent (18-55) from the field and their lowest point total for the season. The 46 points scored by the Tigers matched the fewest Auburn had scored against the Tide since the 1980 season when the Tigers also scored 46 points.
Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried was pleased with his team's performance, particularly the teamwork of his squad.
"On defense, (our players) are helping each other," Gottfried said. "We talk a lot about, it is amazing what can get accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit, that is an old John Wooden saying and this team really applies it. They just play. The open man takes shots and they help each other defensively. This was a good win for us today."
Shelton led Alabama with 12 points. Kennedy Winston and Chuck Davis dropped in 11 points and 10 points respectively.
Marco Killingsworth led the Tigers with a game high 17 points. Quinnel Brown added 12 for Auburn.
Alabama returns to action next Wednesday as the Tide travels to Athens, Georgia to face the Georgia Bulldogs. Tip-off for the contest is set for 7:00 p.m. C.S.T. The game can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
