After two critical victories at home last week, Auburn visited Columbia, South Carolina in search of their fourth conference win. They were unsuccessful.
The Gamecocks knocked down 58 percent of their shots from behind the arc, and shot well from start to finish on their way to a 98-69 win over Auburn.
“It was a complete ass-kicking. That’s all it was,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “That’s the second-best team in the league on their home floor and we just weren’t ready. We weren’t prepared. We got out-coached, out-played. That’s going to happen some nights.
Auburn guards Jared Harper, Mustapha Heron and Danjel Purifoy all struggled, which left head coach Bruce Pearl few options to rely on. Harper finished with 12 points and zero rebounds followed by Heron's 10 points and five rebounds. Purifoy, who returned from injury on Saturday, struggled throughout the contest and recorded only one rebound and zero points.
Which minimal production from the guards, the Tiger big men were forced to step up. Anfernee McLemore led the way for the posts with 18 points and six rebounds, followed by 10 points and 11 rebounds from Austin Wiley.
The big night from the bigs was not enough.
Duane Notice and Sindarius Thornwell led the way for the 23rd ranked Gamecocks as they led the Tigers from start to finish. Notice recorded 27 points and four rebounds, while Thornwell followed with 22 points and eight rebounds. South Carolina shot 49 percent from the field, and were 15 for 26 from behind the arc.
“They got a lot of open shots. Uncontested shots,” Pearl said. “I thought we had a good defensive game plan to let the guards be aggressive up top and let the bigs protect them, and it just didn’t work out.”
The 98-point Gamecock performance was the second-most points South Carolina has ever scored in an SEC game, and was the largest margin they have ever beaten Auburn by.
“I don’t think I’m going to get out-coached many nights but I did tonight. They took us out of everything we wanted to do.”
The victory puts South Carolina back in the win column, and dropped Auburn to 13-7 overall and 3-5 in conference. Auburn will remain on the road, and will face TCU on Saturday. Tip-off is set for for 5 p.m. CST and action can be seen on ESPNU.
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