In Auburn's final road game of the year, the Tigers fell to No. 8 Alabama 70-58.
For the third straight game, the Tigers were without the services of freshman point guard Sharife Cooper.
With around eight minutes left in the game, a high-flying dunk by JT Thor cut the Alabama lead to five, but the short-handed Tigers team couldn’t overtake the Crimson Tide.
"I thought our kids really competed, played hard, won the battle of the boards," said head coach Bruce Pearl. "Obviously for the game, if you look at Alabama's shooting percentages, we gave ourselves a chance to win. But offensively we've got some limitations."
The entire night, the Tigers had turnover trouble, committing a season-high 23 turnovers. Against No. 25 Tennessee earlier in the week, the team only had 12.
Jamal Johnson got the start at point guard again on Saturday, totaling 10 points and a career-high seven assists.
Johnson helped bridge an early 16-point deficit in the first half by scoring eight straight on his own, including a pair of 3-pointers.
At half, the score was 37-27 Alabama.
A 3-pointer from Devan Cambridge closed the gap to 10 at the halftime split. Cambridge finished the game with 11 points, shooting 50% from beyond the arc.
Jaylin Williams had another effective night scoring, amassing 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Each of the sophomore’s last three games have been double-digit scoring efforts, making it the 15th time Williams has scored in double figures this season.
"Jaylin Williams was very productive tonight," Pearl said. "We're trying to get it to him more. We need to get it to him more."
Thor and Allen Flanigan were relatively quiet for Auburn, scoring seven apiece. Flanigan finished the game with a team-high nine rebounds and Thor finished with seven.
Auburn managed to win the battle of the boards against Alabama, outrebounding the Tide 46-34.
The Tigers will finish their season on Saturday against Mississippi State. Tipoff is set for noon CST at Auburn Arena.
"I wish we would've got this dub today and then win on Saturday so we could've ended perfectly ready to go into the next season, but that's not going to happen," Williams said. "So we have to win this Saturday, and we're going to be prepared for Mississippi State."
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