Jan. 22, 2011
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Panorama view as Auburn accepts ODK Trophy for Iron Bowl victory
AUBURN - Earnest Ross had 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists but it wasn't enough as Alabama pulled away in the end for a 68-58 victory over Auburn before a sold out crowd at Auburn Arena on Saturday.
The Tigers trailed 51-49 on a jumper by Rob Chubb with 5:07 left but went scoreless for the next 4:06 as the Crimson Tide pulled ahead 59-49. Alabama made 15-of-18 free throws in the final 2:40 as Auburn had to foul. In the first half, Auburn had a 22-17 lead with 7:17 left but had another five-minute dry spell without a point as Alabama scored eight straight points.
"We can't score," said Auburn head coach Tony Barbee. "I thought we played hard. I thought we played tough. We outrebounded a really good rebounding team, but we can't score. We played well enough defensively to win the game, but we need to score. I hate losing more than I like winning."
The game was close throughout until the final minutes as there were 19 lead changes and nine ties. Auburn (7-12, 0-5) jumped out to an 11-7 lead and then pushed it out to 22-17. Alabama (12-7, 4-1), which snapped a four-game losing streak to the Tigers in Auburn, ended the half on a 12-5 run to take a 29-27 halftime lead.
After the Auburn football team accepted the James E. Foy ODK Sportsmanship Trophy at intermission for beating Alabama 28-27, neither team led by more than three points in the second half until the Tide pulled away at the end.
"It was very disappointing because with a crowd like that, they helped us a lot through the whole game," said Kenny Gabriel of the sellout crowd of 9,121. "To see all of their support, we just didn't want to let them down. Knowing that we let them down, all I can say is we appreciate y'all coming out and hopefully y'all will come back, and we'll have a crowd like that the next home game.
"We're going to continue to keep fighting, and we just have to keep executing our offense so we can pull out these victories."
Auburn's defense held Alabama to 41.7 percent from the field and 4-of-20 (.200) from behind the 3-point arc and the Tigers outrebounded the taller Tide 36-29. The Tigers, which averaged 13.8 turnovers in SEC play, turned it over 21 times and were outscored 25-11 in points off turnovers. Alabama missed only six of its 30 foul shots for 80 percent.
Auburn shot 38.0 percent from the floor, 4-of-14 (.286) from behind the arc and 16-of-22 (.727) from the foul line.
Gabriel added 11 points, six rebounds and three steals for the Tigers while Chubb added nine points and Josh Langford seven. JaMychal Green and Tony Mitchell each scored 15 points for Alabama while Trevor Releford and Senario Hillman had 10 apiece.
Auburn closes its three-game in six-day stretch as it plays at Arkansas on Tuesday at 8 pm Central on ESPNU.