Dec. 1, 2005
AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn shot a season-high 54.7 percent from the field and four players scored in double figures to propel the Tigers (3-1) to a 91-76 victory over McNeese State (2-2) on Thursday.
Auburn was led by Ronny LeMelle, who scored a game-high 17, including 13 in the first half, despite spending the remaining 10:46 on the sideline saddled with four fouls.
Starting point guard Quantez Robertson scored 11 points and had five rebounds, while dishing out a career-high eight assists. Also scoring in double figures was Josh Dollard with 12 and Rasheem Barrett, who had a career-high 15 points. Dollard scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
"We did a nice job offensively tonight," head coach Jeff Lebo said. "We had some issues from the three-point line, but had some good looks. This was an ugly win, but I will take a win any day. We were up 16 points in the first half and then we made some bad plays. That breaks the momentum. We just lost the momentum. We got a chance to play everyone, so that was good."
Both teams struggled with ball control all night long, each finishing with 20 turnovers.
The Tigers took an eight-point lead (44-36) into the half and quickly opened their lead to 16 (57-41) on the strength of a 13-5 run in which Dollard scored 10 of his 12 points.
Auburn extended its lead to as much as 22 with 9:00 minutes to play. The Cowboys closed the game by outscoring the Tigers 25-18.
Auburn was led in the first half by the hot shooting of LeMelle, who scored 13 first-half points and made 3-of-6 three-pointers. As a team, the Tigers shot 51.6 percent from the field. McNeese State also shot well in the first half, connecting on 15-of-30 attempts (50 percent), but the Cowboys shot 0-of-3 from beyond the arc.
McNeese State's zone kept the Tigers out of the paint and forced 15 three-point attempts in the first half. The 15 attempts were more than the Tigers had the entire game against Gardner-Webb or Colorado State.
With 12:01 remaining in the half and Auburn leading 13-10, LeMelle stroked a three-pointer that sparked a 22-9 run in which LeMelle scored seven straight points and nine of the first 11 during the run. The run widened Auburn's lead to 16 points (35-19).
J.T. Williams led the Cowboys with 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
The Tigers return to action on Sunday, Dec. 4 when they travel to Pittsburgh to face Pitt at 6:30 p.m.