After jumping out to a 38-23 halftime lead and holding Texas Tech scoreless from the field for almost 13 minutes, things got too close for comfort for Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl's squad.
The Red Raiders led a furious comeback in the second half, but a game winning block by LaRon Smith sealed the 67-65 victory for the Tigers in their toughest test this season.
"It was a great win for our program, great win for our kids," Pearl said, whose Tigers led by 19 points in the second half. "I'd rather learn and win than learn and lose, and we about learned and lost... That might be one of the best wins the SEC's had so far, because [Texas Tech is] a tournament team."
Auburn (4-0) came out of the half playing well, with freshman point guard Jared Harper posting 10 points with three assists. Freshman standout Mustapha Heron, led the way in scoring for Auburn with 15 points, three rebounds and one assist in only 25 minutes.
Because of foul trouble, Heron didn't play as many minutes as he could have, but was key in building a large first half lead for the Tigers. Heron was 6-12 shooting and was 50 percent from behind the arc. Freshman guard Danjel Purifoy also added 11 points with six rebounds for Auburn.
The Red Raiders suffered their first loss on the season and never led in the contest despite the second half comeback from 19 points down. They were led by Aaron Ross who scored 17 points and added five rebounds.
With 1:18 remaining in the contest, T.J. Dunans added a lay up after a steal to give Auburn a 65-59 lead. Harper then made two of four free throws, which gave the Red Raiders a shot at a victory in their final possession down by only two points. They were not able to convert because of a monster block from Smith.
Auburn will play either Utah State or nationally ranked Purdue in Wednesday's Cancun Challenge Championship. Tip off will be at 7:30 p.m. CST and action can be seen on the CBS Sports Network.
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