AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn turned a 15-point first-half deficit into a fourth-quarter lead, but the Tigers could not finish off the comeback in a 57-51 loss to Georgia Tech at Neville Arena Thursday night.
The Tigers (2-1) struggled to score early, allowing the Yellow Jackets (3-0) to build an early cushion. Auburn chipped away late in the second and through the third, briefly moving ahead midway through the fourth quarter, but Tech used a 10-2 run from there to hold off the comeback.
"We came out passive, we didn't come out aggressive," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. "Their size, we didn't have that in practice to go against, and it kind of shell-shocked us. We had three really young players out there, and I thought they looked at that and maybe got a little nervous. We kind of went away from our game plan. But then I got a group of players in there that was playing hard on the defensive end, and it started on defense."
Aicha Coulibaly and Honesty Scott-Grayson led Auburn with 11 points each. Freshman Mya Pratcher came off the bench to grab a team-leading 10 rebounds while finishing with six points. Freshman Kaitlyn Duhon contributed six points as well. Coulibaly led Auburn with four assists and four steals.
It was a rough shooting night for the Tigers, who missed 17 of their first 18 shots to post a season-low 26.3% (20-76), including just 2-of-19 from 3-point range. But the Tigers crashed the boards, winning the rebounding battle for the first time this season, 51-39. Auburn turned 29 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points, and they forced Tech into 22 turnovers that turned into 14 points for the Tigers.
Tech led 17-5 after a first quarter that saw Auburn miss 16 straight shots to end the period, and the Jackets would lead 29-14 with under five minutes to play in the second. But Auburn ended the quarter on a 7-1 run to cut the lead to 32-25 at the half.
The Tigers kept chipping away, getting within a point several times in the third quarter, but trailed 43-40 going to the fourth. A Pratcher layup and a pair of Coulibaly free throws gave Auburn their first lead since the opening minute at 44-43 with 7:44 to play. But Tech would go on a 10-2 run over the next three-plus minutes, and Auburn was unable to make up any ground down the stretch.
Cameron Swartz led four players in double-figures for Tech with 16 points; Bianca Jackson and Eylia Love had 12 apiece. The Jackets shot 40 percent from the floor and were 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
Auburn will close out a season-opening four-game home stand Sunday when Alabama State visits Neville Arena. Tip is set for 2 p.m. CT.
Tigers' comeback bid falls short to Georgia Tech
