Auburn certainly played well enough to beat the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday. But, in the end, endurance always wins.
Auburn held the lead for 24:56 of game time, and the game would experience 13 total lead changes. However, Alabama would ultimately take over in the late stages of the game to solidify the 77-69 win at Neville Arena.
The Crimson Tide ultimately pulled out the win by going on a 21-10 run over the final 7:57 and would run away with the game after taking their final lead with 5:59 remaining in the game when Rylan Griffin nailed a free throw to put his team up, 63-62.
Auburn cut the lead to 68-66 with 3:39 remaining in the game on a [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] dunk but would miss eight of their last 10 shots in the stretch.
[autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] got the Tigers on board first with 18:56 remaining in the game by exchanging an Alabama turnover for two points. He then connected on a three-pointer to put Auburn ahead by two possessions before Alabama could score their first bucket.
Alabama finally got their first points with 16:42 remaining in the first half on a layup by Noah Clowney to trim the Tiger lead to 5-2.
At the first media timeout, Auburn held a 9-6 advantage over the Crimson Tide with 15:12 to go in the half. After Alabama tied the game at 6-6, [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag] drained his first bucket of the game from the top of the key putting Auburn back in front, 9-6. Both teams connected on 50% of their shots through the first five minutes of the game, going 3-for-6 from the field.
Auburn continued to find success on the floor over the next four minutes by padding their lead to 18-13, which forced an Alabama timeout. [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag] burst onto the scene as he scored six of the Tigers’ nine points during the stretch.
Auburn pushed their lead to 22-19 at the under-eight media timeout of the first half. The Crimson Tide got six points on a three-pointer, plus a three-point play by Brandon Miller. However, the momentum stayed with Auburn after a lob pass from Green ended with a slam by [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag].
The Crimson Tide took their first lead with 7:02 remaining in the half on a layup by Miller to push his team ahead, 23-22. Allen Flanigan converted two free throws just 19 seconds later to take the lead back, 24-23.
The Tigers and Tide would fight to a 37-37 halftime tie. Shot selection was the key takeaway from the first half. Auburn shot 10-of-27 from the field for a 37% rate while Alabama shot 62%, making 15-of-24 shots. Auburn’s key stat was their success at the free-throw line. Auburn took 14 shots from the line, which was eight more than Alabama had in the first half, and converted 12 of those shots. The Tigers also limited Alabama to just 3-of-9 from three-point land.
Williams led the Tigers in scoring with 14 while Miller was Alabama’s leading scorer with eight.
The second half began much like the first, with a clutch shot to put Auburn ahead. Green drilled a three-pointer one minute into the half to give Auburn the 40-37 lead.
After staying behind Auburn to begin the second half, the Crimson Tide re-took the lead on a three-pointer by Rylan Griffin to give Alabama the 50-49 lead. Over the next four minutes, both teams would trade leads twice before a layup by Johnson put Auburn ahead by three, 55-52 with 11:19 remaining in regulation.
Both teams would continue to trade buckets, but Alabama would get over the edge with 7:02 remaining in the game on a layup by Mark Sears. The bucket would mark the 11th lead change of the game.
After trailing for most of the game, Alabama’s experience began to take control with 4:28 remaining, when they built up their largest lead of the game at that point to four, 68-64. Once they reached that total, the Crimson Tide would go on to lead by as many as 10 points before ultimately settling for an eight-point win.
The Tigers have now lost five of its last six games, and they have now lost two of its last three at home. Auburn ended the game by making just 32% of its shots while Alabama remained constant by making 59% of its second-half shots. Three Tigers reached double-figures in points led by Wendell Green Jr.’s 24-point game.
Next up for Auburn is a home date with Missouri on Valentine’s Day. Tipoff from Neville Arena is set for 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday evening.
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