BATON ROUGE, La. – In a matchup of two of college's basketball finest freshmen, Auburn's Sharife Cooper and LSU's Cameron Thomas both dazzled but the Bengal Tigers prevailed 104-80 Saturday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Thomas scored a game-high 27 points for LSU while Cooper led Auburn with 26.
LSU shot 50 percent from 3-point range and 53 percent overall, while Auburn made 7 of 28 3-point attempts, a 25 percent clip, and shot 37 percent overall.
"I'm disappointed," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "I thought we had a great game plan. I thought we had a good week of preparation. I thought we were excited about playing. We just didn't have that edge. That's a problem. As a result, we got whooped."
Allen Flanigan scored 13 points and had five of Auburn's eight assists. JT Thor added 10 points.
LSU placed five scorers in double figures, including Trendon Watford, who scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
"I just don't think they are that much better than our players, but they played it," Pearl said. "That's why I'm disappointed. I was surprised that we weren't locked in. We got beat one on one. They beat us at every position."
LSU led 50-34 at the half after outrebounding Auburn 26-18 in the first 20 minutes. Thomas scored 16 first-half points for the home team while Cooper led Auburn with 13.
Auburn (11-12, 5-9) started hot and led 10-5 before LSU (14-6, 9-4) took control. The Bengal Tigers led by 22 before Auburn closed the gap late in the half with a 7-0 run.
Javon Franklin led Auburn with seven rebounds, grabbing six in the first half in eight minutes. LSU outrebounded Auburn 47-39, contributing to a 50-38 advantage in points in the paint.
After three consecutive road games, the Tigers return to Auburn Arena Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT vs. Florida.
"It's a matter of pride," Pearl said. "Our team has gotten better throughout the season, but these other teams have gotten better too. These teams are playing with an edge, playing to get ready for postseason.
"Our big guys are young and not physical enough. We don't have enough physicality and toughness and it really showed tonight. I think we're better than this. That was my message."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
