SYRACUSE, N.Y.— Auburn fought back in the second half to force overtime, but the Tigers were unable to hold off Syracuse in the extra period, falling 66-60 Wednesday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Auburn (8-2) struggled to take care of the ball, turning it over a season-high 27 times, which led to 27 Orange points.
Syracuse also controlled the glass, turning 16 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
“We’re not going to grow overnight, so we’ve got to do a better job staying disciplined with our box-outs,” Auburn head coach Larry Vickers said. “Offensive rebounds and turnovers lost us this game tonight. They had 16 offensive rebounds. We knew coming in that we wouldn’t win if they got 16, and they got 16.
“Twenty-seven turnovers is too many turnovers to beat a good team.That used to be one of our strengths, but it has recently become one of our weaknesses. We’ve just got to work on it and get better.”
A Coulibaly floater with 14.3 seconds left in regulation gave Auburn a 52-51 lead, but Syracuse answered with a free throw at the other end to tie the game. Auburn had a look at the rim as time expired, but another Coulibaly attempt fell just short.
In overtime, Petticord hit two early free throws to give Auburn a 54-52 lead. After the teams traded buckets and Coulibaly tied it once again at 58-all, Syracuse’s Laila Phelia converted a three-point play to take a three-point lead.
Petticord hit a deep jumper with 51 seconds left to get back within one, but Auburn would come up empty on its remaining possessions as the Orange closed it out at the free-throw line.
Auburn out-shot Syracuse from the floor, 42 percent to 35, but the Orange went to the free-throw line 27 times, knocking down 22, while Auburn was 11-of-15 at the line.
Harissoum Coulibaly led Auburn with 17 points, and Kaitlyn Duhon added 15 points along with six steals. Mya Petticord and A’riel Jackson scored nine points apiece.
Tied 40-40 after three quarters, Syracuse held a slim lead most of the fourth, but a Petticord corner trey with 2:40 left put the Tigers in front 48-47, their first lead since early in the second quarter.
Syracuse pulled back ahead by three, but Auburn found a way to get stops and get to the free-throw line in the last minute to get within one, setting up Coulibaly’s go-ahead jumper.
Buckets were tough to come by in the early going for both teams, but Auburn took advantage of some late Orange turnovers to push their way to a 9-point lead at 17-8 with just under a minute to play.
But Syracuse forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions in the closing seconds, turning both into points to cut the lead to 17-12 after one.
Turnover troubles continued for Auburn in the second quarter as they committed 11 in the period, leading to 13 Syracuse points. The first eight minutes of the second, Auburn made just one shot while Syracuse extended their run to 18-2 to take a 26-19 lead.
The Tigers got a pair of late free throws and a bucket from Duhon to get back within three, but Syracuse would score late to make it 28-23 at the break.
Auburn chipped away to start the third, ultimately pulling even at 36-all on a three-point play from Duhon at the midway point of the quarter.
With time winding down in the third quarter, Khady Leye would pull down an offensive rebound and bank in a layup as the horn sounded, tying the game 40-40.
Dominque Darius led four Orange in double figures with 20 points. Uche Izoje had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
After a 10-day break for final exams, the Tigers will be back in action Sunday, Dec. 14, on the road as they travel to South Orange, New Jersey, to take on Seton Hall.