Feb. 18, 2006
Ronny LeMelle scored a career-high 21 points, Josh Dollard added 12 points, Quantez Robertson 10 points and Korvotney Barber a career-high 10 rebounds but it wasn't enough as No. 25 LSU pulled out a 65-61 victory over Auburn in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.
Tasmin Mitchell scored his only points of the game when he gave LSU a 63-61 lead on a layup with 30 seconds left. Robertson missed an open 3-pointer from the top of the key with 7 seconds remaining, LeMelle grabbed the rebound and missed a contested follow shot in the lane with 3 seconds left.
"The guys are hurt and frustrated," Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo said. "We just can't get it done. I am proud of our effort and what we did tonight. We had chances up until the end. The disappointment level is up there. We wanted to finish up strong. It is hard for our kids.
"No one is going to stop them in the paint, but we changed defenses on them to make them do something different to get points. Quantez just missed the shot. I told the guys that it doesn't come down to just one shot. A lot of freshmen wanted to take that last shot."
A LeMelle jumper put Auburn up 56-51 with 8:06 remaining, but Auburn would only score two more baskets the rest of the way. A Rasheem Barrett 3-pointer regained the lead for Auburn at 59-57 at 3:29 and Dollard's layup tied it at 61 with 48 seconds on the clock.
Auburn led by as much as 18-11 over eight minutes in. The Tigers completed a pair of passes to go the length of the court as Brett Howell nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to beat the buzzer and give Auburn a 31-30 halftime lead.
"For what they've gone through, and for them playing as hard as they're playing, it's a tribute to Jeff (Lebo)," LSU coach John Brady said.
Glen Davis totaled 24 points and 11 rebounds and shot 8-of-13 from the foul line compared to only 6-of-10 for Auburn. As a team, LSU was 13-of-22 from the foul line. Of LSU's 52 points scored from the field, 46 of them came in the paint.
"Just by watching film, you can tell that we are getting better," LeMelle said. "We have come a long way from the first game of the year, even from the beginning of the conference schedule to this point. We have been playing better basketball as a team. Every day we keep getting better. Eventually these losses will turn into wins."
The jerseys of Auburn All-Americans Chuck (#45) and Wesley (#11) Person were retired during a halftime ceremony.