The Vanderbilt Commodores rode hot 3-point shooting and a 42-point second half Saturday night to a 67-59 comeback road victory over the Auburn Tigers.
The Commodores (15-11, 7-7 SEC) shot 55 percent (10-of-18) from behind the arc in the second half to overcome Auburn's seven point halftime lead.
"It was a disappointing loss starting with me, Denson and Asauhn (Dixon-Tatum), the seniors," said Auburn forward Allen Payne. "We just can't have that kind of drop off from a game where we played with that much intensity and fight to have a second half like we did against Vanderbilt. It's unacceptable."
Auburn's (12-13, 4-10 SEC) scoring duo of Chris Denson and KT Harrell was held in check for most of the afternoon, with each player only managing 13 points.
"Obviously we need those guys to set the pace for us offensively," Barbee said. "More than that, we need their defensive effort and energy and neither one of those guys brought it."
The Tigers came out of the gates hot and jumped out to a 27-11 lead in the first ten minutes of the game.
However, the Commodores roared back and ended the half on a 14-5 run to cut the Tigers lead to 32-25.
After the game, Barbee blamed a lack of energy in the final ten minutes of the half for setting the tone of the rest of the game.
"The last ten minutes of the first half is where it all started," Barbee said. "We got up 15 or 16 and just assumed the game was over."
Early in the second half, the Commodores began their three-point barrage, nailing five 3-pointers on their way to a 15-0 run.
The Tigers battled briefly, but were eventually unable to overcome Vanderbilt's volley of outside shooting.
"We came in with our subs and they made way too many defensive breakdowns, but we had way too many of them from the top to the bottom of our lineup," Barbee said.
Leading the Commodores, Dai-Jon Parker was 5-of-9 from behind the arc and led all scorers with 21 points. Freshman center Damian Jones contributed 14 points and four rebounds in the victory.
The Tigers will return to action Feb. 26 when the South Carolina Gamecocks (10-17, 3-11 SEC) visit the Auburn Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
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