Feb. 19, 2011
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AUBURN - AUBURN----Earnest Ross had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, but it wasn't enough to offset No. 18 Vanderbilt in its 77-60 win over Auburn in Auburn Arena on Saturday. John Jenkins, the SEC's leading scorer, had a game-high 22 points, 16 in the second half, on 5-of-11 three-pointers to lead the Commodores.
Tied at 42 with 14 minutes to play, Vanderbilt (20-6, 8-4) went on a 20-2 run in almost seven minutes to take control of the game. The Commodores shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, including 71.4 percent on 5-of-7 three-pointers.
"They made shots in the second half," said Auburn head coach Tony Barbee. "We can give them credit there, but I thought our offense just made some horrible decisions. We had a team that didn't press us one possession, but we had 19 turnovers. We made the worst decisions with the basketball that I have ever seen in the second half.
"We had guys wide open on backdoors and wide open on post-ups. Our guys just had the ball taken right out of their hands. It is disappointing."
Auburn (9-17, 2-10) played Vanderbilt tight the entire first half as there were 11 lead changes and six ties. The Tigers led 6-3 early and were down 28-26 at the half. Ross, who recorded his fifth double-double of the season, went 3-of-5 from 3-point range and tied the game at 42 on a long range trey. It was all Vanderbilt after that.
"We just had a lack of offense, and they are a very explosive offensive team," said Barbee. "You could see that when they went on their run. They are a very offensive team. These guys are a veteran team, and they play that way. They don't panic. They just do what they do. They made plays, and they made shots."
Kenny Gabriel added 13 points for Auburn, which shot 44 percent from the floor, 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from 3-point range and 11-of-17 (.647) on free throws. Vanderbilt shot 48 percent from the field, 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from behind the arc and 20-of-28 (.714) foul shots.
"We broke down defensively and stopped playing," said Ross. "We let go of the rope, and we could not get stops defensively which we could convert into offense and make plays. It put us in a hole and when you cannot score the ball and when your defense stops, it makes it hard to win a game."
Jeffery Taylor had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Vanderbilt while Brad Tinsley had 16 points.
Auburn plays at Alabama on Wednesday at 7 pm Central in Coleman Coliseum. The game will be televised by the SEC Network.