Dec. 18, 2005
AUBURN, Ala. - After making a school-record 18 three-pointers in last year's season-opening victory at Temple, Auburn used a combination of hot shooting and a stifling defense to defeat the Owls 73-42 on Sunday.
The Tigers connected on 11-of-24 three-pointers (46 percent) and limited Temple to just 26.3 percent shooting. The 31-point victory was Auburn's largest since Nov. 29, 2003 when the Tigers defeated Grambling State, 105-56. Temple's loss tied for the second-worst loss in the 25-year coaching era at Temple for John Chaney.
Auburn (5-2) was led by a balanced scoring attack with three players scoring in double figures, led by Frank Tolbert's 14 points. Tolbert scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half.
"I am stunned by how much we won by," head coach Jeff Lebo said. "We played awfully sharp today. We looked really good on defense and did well with guarding (Mardy) Collins. We were worried about that earlier. Temple really didn't play as well as they could have."
The Tigers' defense limited Temple (5-3) to a season-low 42 points on 26 percent shooting (15-of-57) and did not allow one Temple player to score double figures. The 42 points allowed by the Tigers are the fewest since holding Arkansas to 37 points in a 52-37 victory over Arkansas on Jan. 11, 2003.
The last time the Tigers held a team without a player in double figures was on Feb. 23, 2003 when Auburn defeated South Carolina, 50-40.
Leading 45-23 at the break, Auburn never allowed the Owls to get any closer than 18 points in the second half and limited Temple to just 16 points in the final frame. The Tigers led by as many as 35 points with 5:19 remaining. The 16 second-half points were the fewest allowed by Auburn this year, topping the 25 by Gardner-Webb.
The Tigers closed the first half on a 26-7 run and took a 22-point lead at the half (45-23). The 45 points scored were the most this season in the first half, topping the 44 scored against McNeese State.
With Auburn leading 19-16 with 7:29 remaining in the first frame, Quantez Robertson lobbed a perfect pass to Tolbert, who threw down a thunderous dunk which triggered a 14-0 run that gave the Tigers a 33-16 lead. Temple was never able to recover from the run.
The Tigers shot 50 percent (13-of-26) in the first half and were led by Frank Tolbert who led all scorers at the break with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Auburn opened the game 10-of-10 from the line before finishing the game 14-of-19 (73.7 percent).
Emanuel Willis saw his first action as a Tiger after transferring from Southern California. Willis entered the game at the 11:51 mark of the first half and finished with six points, six rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes.
Mardy Collins entered the game averaging a team-best 14.6 points per game, but was limited to just nine points.
Auburn returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 22 when the Tigers travel to College Station, Texas to battle Texas A&M at 8:30 p.m.