The Auburn Tigers defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 63-52 in Auburn Arena Saturday. Auburn's Frankie Sullivan, junior guard, tied his season-high with 22 points while Kenny Gabriel, senior forward, added 16 more as the Gamecocks, led by sophomore guard Bruce Ellington and freshman forward Anthony Gill, remain the only win-less team in the SEC.
"Let me say this, I keep saying we're getting closer, and we are," said coach Tony Barbee. "Because it is finally starting to click that if you will guard with that sense of urgency and that sense of toughness on every possession, then no matter what you do offensively you're going to give yourself a chance to win."
Auburn (12-7, 2-3) came out strong in the second half, despite trailing 24-28 going into halftime. Gabriel scored the first six points in the half for the Tigers, but it wasn't the offense that turned the game around.
"I say what we were doing well was just playing defense," Gabriel said. "We know that we're not going to make shots every time down on the court, but if we just go down there and play defense as hard we can, then [we can] create opportunities for fast breaks."
South Carolina (8-10, 0-4) out-rebounded Auburn 29-28, but was plagued by offensive mistakes, including 23 turnovers.
Auburn led the majority of the second half, despite Ellington and Gill scoring a combined 12 points. Gabriel's start sparked a 29-8 Auburn run, extending the Tigers lead to 55-38 with less than five minutes left in the game.
With smart play in transition, an element of the game Barbee has emphasized since becoming the Tigers coach, Auburn was able to take the lead.
"We are what we are offensively," Barbee said. "We're going to go through droughts; we're going to struggle to score. We only have two guys in double figures. From two of our other starters we have one point combined. We are what we are, but if we will defend and guard and scrap and hustle with that sense of urgency, you're going to give yourself a chance in every single game."
Auburn's next game is Wednesday in Bud Walton Arena against Arkansas at 8 p.m. on CSS.
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