All good things must come to an end. That seems to be the case whenever Auburn takes a win streak over to Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide would knock off the 8th ranked Tigers by four points. Before their loss, the Tigers did defeat Ole Miss to keep their home winning streak in tact. Here’s a recap of the last two games.
Auburn 82, Ole Miss 59
Auburn and Ole Miss faced off in a ranked matchup at Neville Arena. It looked like a tough matchup on paper, but Auburn’s aggressive play and the Neville Arena crowd were too much for the Rebels. Auburn made several runs throughout the game including a 14-0 run to end the first half.
The Tigers’ bench made a huge impact during the game, scoring 40 points to Ole Miss’ 18. “We’re deep at every position and we have each other’s back,” said Lior Berman, who scored four points and grabbed three rebounds. “If one guy is off, we’ve got another guy coming in and we’re going to support each other through that. Having that at each position has allowed us to be effective every night.”
Auburn extended its home-court winning streak to 13 games, which is tied for the seventh-longest home-court winning streak in program history and the longest since the Tigers won 13 games from March 4, 2017-Feb. 3, 2018 at Neville Arena.
Alabama 79, Auburn 74
The first bump in the road in SEC play came in Tuscaloosa with a close four point loss to Alabama. After a delay in the beginning of the game, Auburn took an eight point lead thanks to several made shots from Johni Broome.
Alabama would respond with an onslaught of made three-point shots. Auburn seemed rattled and would trail by 14 at the half.
Auburn would go on a run of their own to take a one point lead thanks to a breakaway dunk by Tre Donaldson. In the last five minutes, Auburn could not seem to take a substantial lead as both teams exchanged shots. Auburn trailed by three with less than a minute to play when Chad-Baker Mazara was fouled on a three point shot. Chad would hit only two of three shots as the Crimson Tide would go on to win.
Johni Broome recorded another double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Chad Baker-Mazara would add 11 points and Denver Jones had eight points.
“We can compete on the road in a tough environment against a really good team,” Pearl said. “This may not be the outcome we wanted but this is an outcome that tells me something.”
Looking Ahead
Auburn is back on the road on January 27th when they face Mississippi State at Humphery Coliseum. The Bulldogs boast several wins including over Northwestern, Tennessee, and Rutgers. Their losses include Alabama, Kentucky, Florida, and South Carolina. Tip-off for this game is at 2:30 P.M CT with TV coverage on SEC Network.
The Tigers will face a familiar opponent on January 31st when they welcome Vanderbilt to Neville Arena. Auburn beat Vanderbilt in Nashville by a final of 80-65. Since that game, the Commodores have yet to win an SEC game. Tip-off for that game will be at 8:00 P.M with tv coverage on ESPN2.
