With 3:20 left in the second half, Bryce Brown buried a deep 3-pointer and, as he trotted back down the court, stared into the sea of crimson that surrounded him with three fingers pressed against his head.
The bucket cut Auburn’s deficit to one point against its fiercest rival, which was playing for its NCAA Tournament life.
But Brown’s basket was one of few for Auburn in the second half, as the Tigers made just four field goals in the final 14:57 of game time on the way to an ugly 65-57 loss at a packed Coleman Coliseum.
“The longer we got away from halftime, the worse it got,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “We didn’t execute well. We didn’t. I’ll give Alabama’s defense credit, but I’ll take the blame.”
Turnovers and free throw shooting doomed Auburn on Saturday as it attempted to sweep the season series against Alabama.
Thirteen of Auburn’s 18 turnovers came in the second half, and Pearl’s squad made just four of its 12 attempts from the charity stripe in the final 20 minutes.
“Our free throws and our turnovers, you know, they kind of speak for themselves about what this game could have been if we took care of that,” said Auburn forward Tyler Harris, who scored seven points and grabbed 12 rebounds in his return from a concussion suffered against Ole Miss. “But I feel like we gave up a great fight, and we competed out there. Some things you just have to work on and get better at.”
Auburn did not make a shot from the field until Brown’s first 3-pointer with 14:27 in the first half, but the Tigers closed the half on a 15-7 run to stay within striking distance.
The hot stretch continued after the break.
T.J. Dunans’ knocked down a jumper on Auburn’s first possession of the second half, sparking a 15-3 run in which Auburn made its first eight shots of the second half.
The run was highlighted by another Brown 3-pointer, which gave Auburn its first lead of the game with 18:09 left.
Before Alabama could stop the bleeding, the Tigers had stretched their lead to 10 and flipped the momentum in front of the stunned crowd.
It didn’t take long for Retin Obasohan, Alabama’s leading scorer, to stop the slide.
The senior took over the game in the second half, scoring 14 of his game-high 16 points in the final 20 minutes.
“Retin’s our leader, there’s no doubt about it,” said Alabama forward Michael Kessens, who added 15 points for the Tide. “Sometimes we try to let him do too much. I think tonight we did a good job of hanging in there as a team, and then when it got close, Retin just took over.”
As Obasohan began to assert himself, Auburn’s offense grew stagnant.
Auburn scored only two fastbreak points in the game, and Pearl said the lack of pace had a big impact on the Tigers’ lack of offense down the stretch.
“I don’t think we ran the fastbreak well in the second half,” Pearl said. “I like to play at a much faster pace than that, and we walked it up. We walked the ball up in the second half, and it put a lot of pressure on your halfcourt [offense]. We should’ve run better.”
Obasohan reclaimed the lead for Alabama on a layup with 5:46 remaining, and the Tide never lost it again.
Auburn missed 11 of its last 14 shots and was outscored by 17 points over the final 13:42.
“I don’t know if you’d call that a good game, from the standpoint of, I don’t know how good both teams played,” Pearl said. “But it was certainly a competitive game.”
Despite Brown’s 14 points and Cinmeon Bowers’ double-double, Auburn lost for the 12th time in its last 13 games away from Auburn Arena.
Pearl said the reason is simple.
“Too many turnovers. Too many missed free throws,” Pearl said. “Didn’t make enough plays down the stretch, and Alabama did.”
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
