After coming off two-straight loses to Iowa State and Illinois, Auburn was able to end its losing streak on Thursday night with a 66-64 last minute win against Clemson at Auburn Arena.
"We executed way better (tonight)," said Junior guard KT Harrell. "I don't know what it was in Phillips Arena vs. Illinois. We were just stagnant. We were disgusted with ourselves. Myself included. We did a lot of looking in the mirror. We had a great week of practice, and it translated on the court tonight."
Auburn got off to a fast start, scoring the first eight points of the game and building a 17-6 lead in the first 6:48 of the game.
Clemson would fight back and tie the game at the halftime break and then quickly took the lead at the start of the second period.
Looking like a much-improved team from the first period Clemson would begin to pull away, but Auburn would continue to fight and keep the game close for the remainder of the game.
With a little more than one minute to go in the game Auburn would take a 62-60 lead, but Clemson would quickly retie the game with 57 seconds to go in the game.
Auburn would then need some clutch free throws and a strong defensive stand from Asauhn Dixon-Tatum with 30 seconds to go in the game to pull away and hold on for the 66-64 win.
"We just talked about it in the locker room," said head coach Tony Barbee. "Asauhn (Dixon-Tatum) didn't have his best stuff tonight, but the team stayed on Asauhn. I stayed on Asauhn about keep fighting and then make the play when it matters. That is what he does well is block shots. He is so long. For him to leave his man and come over and block that shot was big time."
Chris Denson led Auburn in scoring with 19 points, while KT Harrell had 14 and Allen Payne had eight.
"Coach Barbee always says that KT Harrell and I can't do the bulk of the scoring it needs to come from everybody," Denson said. "Plus Asauhn Dixon-Tatum making that big block. We just need contributions from everybody every night."
The win improved the Tigers to 5-3 on the year.
Auburn will return to the court on Sunday when they take on Boston College in Auburn Arena at 1 p.m.
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