As Kareem Canty dashed toward the basket and flushed home a thunderous dunk, Auburn Arena erupted. The Tigers had just capped off a frenetic scoring sequence and looked to be cruising.
But in the second half, as Colorado's shot began to fall, Auburn's wouldn't, and the Buffaloes stormed back to win 91-84 in front of a national television audience Tuesday afternoon.
"We're terrifically disappointed with a lost opportunity," coach Bruce Pearl said. "When you give up 91 points, you just can't be pleased with the defensive effort."
The Buffaloes used a 27-9 run in the second half to take advantage of Auburn's shooting woes, flipping a seven-point deficit into a 12-point lead with six minutes to go.
The Tigers shot worse than Colorado in the opening period--55.2 percent to the Buffaloes' 59--but Auburn connected on three more 3-pointers.
Canty led the home side with 24 points on 9-17 shooting and seven assists. He connected on only two of 10 shots in the second half, but it was Canty's incendiary shooting that keyed Auburn's big run in the first half.
He was a near-perfect 8-9 in the first 20 minutes, including 7-8 from the 3-point line. But in the second half, with his team struggling, Canty changed his approach to distribute the ball more--a strategy Auburn couldn't capitalize on.
"The first half I came out hot, obviously," Canty said. "The second half I wanted to get my teammates more involved, so I kind of took a backseat. When the game got tight, I tried to get back going again...I tried to get myself back going too late."
After Auburn stretched its lead to 15 following Canty's breakaway dunk, Colorado sparked a 13-2 run to pull within four heading into the break.
With 13:14 to play, the Buffaloes took a 59-58 lead, their first since losing a seven-point advantage midway through the first half.
A pair of free throws by Cinmeon Bowers--who finished with five points on 1-5 shooting--gave Auburn the lead, but Colorado pulled ahead for good three seconds later.
Tyler Harris collected his first-ever double-double, adding 23 points--a career-high--and 12 rebounds.
Auburn used tough perimeter defense on Colorado's guards to set up transition opportunities--forcing 17 turnovers while committing 10--but the difference emerged in free throws, an area Auburn has struggled with.
The Tigers converted only 12 of 22 from the free-throw line, a 55 percent clip, while the Buffaloes sank 21 of 26. And as Auburn began to sink into foul trouble early in the second half, putting Colorado in the double-bonus with 12 minutes remaining, the visitors' superior shooting at the line proved to be the difference.
Auburn will stay at home for the next game, an 8:30 p.m. tip against Georgia Southern on Friday.
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