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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn falls for first time this season, losing 83-64 at Alabama

<p>Austin Wiley (50) has his shot blocked during Auburn at Alabama basketball on Jan. 15, 2020, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.</p>

Austin Wiley (50) has his shot blocked during Auburn at Alabama basketball on Jan. 15, 2020, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Slow starts have been an issue for the Tigers all season long, but they were unable to overcome this one, dropping a Wednesday night contest to Alabama, 83-64 for their first loss of the season.

Eighty-three points is tied for the most Auburn has allowed on the season.

Auburn never led in the game.

“I’m very proud of my team for winning our first 15 games,” head coach Bruce Pearl said after the game. “I think you can see why I’ve been saying we’re a good team and I’ve yet to say we’re a really good team. I think, maybe if that was posturing, it really wasn’t. To be able to beat a good team in Alabama on the road you’ve gotta play very good. We didn’t come close.”

It was a lot of the same struggles for the Tigers early on. They started the game 0-of-10 from deep until Jamal Johnson was able to knock one down. 

Not only was 3-point shooting a struggle, but the Tigers had 12 turnovers in the first half alone. They averaged 11.8 per game beforehand. 

The first half could’ve gotten much uglier for Auburn had Isaac Okoro not gone on two separate 5-0 runs by himself. 

At the end of the half the Tigers trailed by nine. 

Auburn came out much stronger in the second half, pulling within three multiple times but never able to make it much closer. Trailing by as many as 14, the Tigers continued to struggle with turnovers and shooting the ball, finishing the game with 21 turnovers, tied for the most all season, and going 20-of-63 from the field. The Tigers shot just 25% from deep. 

Foul trouble also came into the play for the Tigers. J’Von McCormick and Samir Doughty both fouled out while Austin Wiley and Johnson both ended the game with four fouls. 

It was a forgettable game for both McCormick and Doughty, who combined to score 11 points and had eight turnovers, seven of which came from Doughty. Doughty was 2-of-11 on the night while McCormick was 2-of-8. 

Even with foul trouble, Johnson and Wiley were two of the bright spots for the Tigers, with Wiley picking up 10 points and 13 rebounds en route to his seventh double-double of the season. Johnson finished the game with 10 points while shooting 3-of-5 from deep.

“We didn’t do what we were supposed to do,” Wiley said. “I’ll take part of that blame, most of it, I didn’t get my guys ready to play like we were supposed to. I didn’t play good at all and you just gotta take accountability and play better.”

Okoro had 12 points in the first half, but he was limited to just one point in the second half. 

“Man that’s just probably on me,” Pearl said. “Isaac was our most effective player. They put a lot of people in the lane and he saw a lot of people in the lane and yet they do a great job at taking charges and I think Isaac may have settled some for not just the jump-shot, but I think he could’ve gotten downhill deeper. He even talked to me at halftime about how packed it was and I just didn’t seem to think it was as packed as he thought it was.”

Auburn now falls to 15-1 (3-1 SEC) and prepares to travel to Gainesville to take on Florida on Saturday.

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