Alabama
17-11, 8-7
Auburn
24-4, 12-3
Alabama Men’s Basketball Falls at Auburn, 90-71
2/21/2018 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Collin Sexton scored a game-high 25 points to register his 11th 20-point game of the season
AUBURN, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team fell to Auburn, 90-71, Wednesday night in front of a sold out Auburn Arena. Freshman Collin Sexton recorded his 11th 20-point game of the season, scoring 25 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore Braxton Key and junior Avery Johnson Jr. also reached double figures as Key put up 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Johnson Jr. added 10 points off the bench. Junior Donta Hall finished the night with seven points, five rebound and four blocked shots.
"Well, we got off to a slow start tonight," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. "They jumped on us from the first play of the game and set the tone. We battled back from the middle to the end of the first half. Even though they went into the half with a five-point lead, we were right there. Unfortunately, this is the second game in a row that we didn't have a great second half. You have to give Auburn credit. This was a game that we gave up 14 offensive rebounds and we had just six offensive rebounds, so they were the aggressor. Our guys wanted to win, but it just wasn't our night."
Auburn shot 42.6 percent (29-of-68) from the field for the contest, including a 12-of-34 effort from the three-point line to secure the win. The Tide finished the night shooting 46.2 percent (24-of-52) from the floor and 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from beyond the arc. The Tigers also held the advantage in rebounds, 41-35, while owning the edge in point off turnovers, 28-13.
The Tigers opened the contest hot, using a 14-2 run provided by shooting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc to lead 16-7 at the 15:12 mark. However, the Crimson Tide cooled off Auburn's offense, forcing the Tigers into scoring drought that lasted over three minutes to whittle the lead to 19-15 after a free throw by Dazon Ingram at the 10:39 mark.
With the Tigers leading 30-22, the Tide went on an 8-0 spurt over a span of 3:24, hitting three straight field goals to knot to score at 30 apiece at the 3:16 mark. However, the Tigers ended the half on a 10-5 over the final 3:16 to take a 40-35 lead into the locker room.
Auburn shot 33.3 percent from the floor (12-of-36), while Alabama shot the ball well at 46.4 percent (13-of-28) over the opening 20 minutes of play. The Tigers connected on seven threes (7-of-20) and held the edge on the glass, 24-22.
In the second half, the Tide cut the lead to 42-41 with an Ingram corner-three to bring his team within a single point with 17:26 left to play. However, after a layup by Johnson Jr. brought Alabama within three points at 55-52 with 12:21 remaining, Auburn used a 20-8 run over the next 4:48 to lead 75-60 with 7:17 left in the game and never looked back.
Auburn shot 53.1 percent from the floor (17-of-32) in the second half and led by as much as 24 points, while adding a 5-of-14 performance from beyond the three-point line to secure win.
Four Tigers reached double figures as Jared Harper led the charge with 21 points and six assists, while Bryce Brown went for 18.
Up next, Alabama will return to Coleman Coliseum Saturday, Feb. 24, to face Arkansas at 5 p.m. CT. The game will broadcast live on the SEC Network.
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