Dec. 15, 2010
Tampa -- Andre Malone scored a game-high 18 points and Earnest Ross added 11 as Auburn lost at South Florida 61-49 in the Sun Dome on Wednesday in the Tigers' second straight road game against a Big East Conference team.
South Florida (6-5), which is now 5-1 at home, scored nine straight points to take a 13-5 lead five minutes into the game. Auburn (3-6) picked up its defense and held South Florida scoreless for 6:18 using a 13-0 to take a 19-17 lead on a pair of Earnest Ross free throws with 6:59 left in the half.
The Tigers then hit a dry spell going all but the final second of the remainder of the half without a field goal, including 5:12 without a point, as the Bulls pulled back ahead 28-20. Frankie Sullivan, who played in his first game of the season after coming back from surgery on his left knee on July 27, drained a 3-pointer with a second left, was fouled and made the free throw as Auburn closed to within 28-24 at halftime.
"It looked like they had men on the floor and we had boys on the floor," said Auburn head coach Tony Barbee. "We have a way to go there. It's not how big you are, it's the size of the fight inside of you." As Sullivan's huge four-point play cut the South Florida eight point lead in half, the Tigers trailed by only four despite shooting 29.2 percent from the field and being outrebounded 23-12. Sullivan finished with four points, two assists and two steals in nine minutes on 1-of-3 shooting from the field, all 3-point attempts.
The Tigers scored only four points in the first 7:30 of the second half as they fell behind 39-28, and Auburn never got closer than six at 39-33 the rest of the way.
Auburn shot only 34 percent from the field for the game and was outrebounded 40-28 while South Florida shot 43.6 percent from the floor. Jarrid Famous led the South Florida with 15 points while Hugh Robertson added 12 points and Ron Anderson Jr. eight points and a game-high 12 boards.
Auburn returns home for the first time in almost two weeks to play host to Presbyterian on Saturday at 7 pm Central in Auburn Arena.