March 1, 2014
Auburn's KT Harrell presses the issue against Alabama (AP photo / Butch Dill)
By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Home-court advantage? An icy road offense? Whatever it was, turnabout was fair play for Alabama against Auburn on Saturday.
The Tide beat Auburn 73-57 in Coleman Coliseum a month after losing to the Tigers 74-55 in Auburn Arena.
Auburn's offense started cold, and then turned even colder as the decisive first half played out. The Tigers went almost seven minutes without a basket during one stretch, had 10 points after 12 minutes, shot just 27.6 percent and trailed 36-21 at halftime.
Alabama had no such problems during that time. The Tide shot 48 percent, including six 3-pointers.
Auburn's Chris Denson, who came in as the SEC's leading scorer, could only watch, or at least that's all he did for 10 minutes of the first half. He scored five points before being dispatched to the bench after his second foul. He finished with six.
KT Harrell led Auburn with 21 points.
Alabama led by as many as 19 early in the second half before Auburn made a run to cut the score to 48-36 with just under 12 minutes to play. But when Alabama had nine 3-pointers, when there was 7:30 remaining, Auburn was down 62-41. The Tigers made another move in the final few minutes.
Auburn fell to 13-14 overall and 5-11 in the SEC. Alabama, winning for only the third time in 10 games, improved to 12-17 overall and 6-10 in the league.
Check back for comments from coach Tony Barbee and Auburn players.
Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine