WAR EAGLE EXTRA: Basketball

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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Georgia ends Auburn's season with 69-51 win in first round of SEC tournament

ATLANTA — There was no second-half comeback to be had Thursday in the Georgia Dome, where Auburn's season ended with a 69-51 loss to Georgia.

Trey Thompkins had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (21-10), who kept their NCAA tournament hopes alive, advancing to play Alabama tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET.

The Tigers (11-20) finished with their fewest wins since the 1993-94 season.

Georgia opened things up with an 18-4 run in the first half, taking a 34-23 lead into the break. The Bulldogs dominated the glass, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds.

Auburn, which made a habit of overcoming big deficits late in the season, found Thursday's 21-point hole too large to overcome.

Chris Denson, from Columbus, was one of the few bright spots for the Tigers, finishing with a career-high with 21 points off the bench. He went 9-for-10 from the field.

But he had little offensive help. Auburn shot 39 percent but was 2-for-14 from 3-point range.

Earnest Ross, who scored a career-high 30 earlier this year at Georgia, went 1-for-10 from the floor and scored only 4 points. Kenny Gabriel was the team's second-leading scorer with 7.

Halftime from Atlanta: Georgia 34, Auburn 23

ATLANTA — Auburn will need some second-half magic to keep its season going.

The Tigers trail Georgia 34-23 at halftime in the SEC tournament opener at the Georgia Dome.

The Bulldogs (20-10), who are playing to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive, used an 18-4 run near the end of the first half. Georgia led by as many as 15.

Center Trey Thompkins has a game-high 14 points to go with 7 rebounds. UGA has a 24-14 rebounding advantage, with 13 offensive rebounds.

Reserve guard Chris Denson, from Columbus, leads Auburn (11-19) with 9 points.

The Tigers shot 39 percent in the first half (11-for-28) but were 0-for-7 from 3-point range.

The game's winner will play Alabama tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET.

Tigers aim to bring momentum into tournament

I'll be driving to Atlanta this morning for the SEC tournament, which will take place at the Georgia Dome. Auburn, the 5th seed out of the West, plays Georgia, the 4th seed out of the East, at 1 p.m. ET. Here's how today's story starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn isn’t a quick-starting team, so it figures that it began playing its best basketball as the season wound down.

The Tigers (11-19, 4-12 SEC), who finished the regular season with their first back-to-back wins in league play, hope to carry that late-season momentum into the SEC tournament, which starts today at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

“There’s no question this team has gotten progressively better over the course of the season,” first-year Auburn coach Tony Barbee said. “And right now, we’re playing at our peak.”

Read the full thing here. And follow the blog on Twitter and Facebook.

Here's the full schedule today and tomorrow:

Thursday
Game 1: West No. 5 Auburn vs. East No. 4 Georgia, Game, 1 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 2: East No. 6 South Carolina vs. West No. 3 Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 3: East No. 5 Tennessee vs. West No. 4 Arkansas, 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 4: West No. 6 LSU vs. East No. 3 Vanderbilt, 10 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Friday
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. West No. 1 Alabama, 1 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. East No. 2 Kentucky, 3:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. East No. 1 Florida, 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. West No. 2 Mississippi State, 10 p.m .ET (SEC Network)

Monday, March 7, 2011

UK's John Calipari thinks Tony Barbee deserves consideration for SEC Coach of the Year

For the second straight week, Kentucky's John Calipari stumped for Auburn's Tony Barbee, his former protege, to be SEC Coach of the Year.

Calipari was asked on today's SEC's teleconference about the job Barbee has done in his first year with the young, short-handed Tigers, who struggled but managed to get out of last place in the SEC West, finishing the the regular season 11-19 overall and 4-12 in the conference.

"How about this one? They won as many road games in the league as we have," Calipari said. "I think he should have been considered for Coach of the Year, but we all base it on number of wins.

"You want to talk to any coach about what he's done with that team, to keep them into every game they've played, they've had a chance. To be down 20 and to come back and win games or have a chance to win, that's what coaching is. I just think he's done wonders."

Calipari has a reason for talking up Barbee. He coached Barbee when he was a player at UMass from 1989-93. Barbee was also an assistant on Calipari's staff as a GA at UMass (1995-96) and as an assistant at Memphis (2000-06).

Calipari acknowledged the likely candidates for the honor are Florida's Billy Donovan, Alabama's Anthony Grant and Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings, but -- predictably -- had a strong opinion about his former assistant getting some consideration.

"You've got some haters out there that have got their personal problems that will make jokes about it, but then again they don't know what coaching is," Calipari said. "I think he should be considered."

Auburn enters the SEC tournament as the fifth seed out of the West. It will play Georgia, the East's No. 4 seed, at 1 p.m. ET Thursday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

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Kenny Gabriel named co-SEC Player of the Week

Auburn forward Kenny Gabriel shared SEC Player of the Week honors, the conference announced Monday.

Gabriel, a 6-foot-8 forward from Charlotte, N.C., averaged 20.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in Auburn's wins against Ole Miss and LSU last week.

He shared the award with Mississippi State's Ravern Johnson.

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Gabriel, a junior, scored a career-high 24 points against Ole Miss to help the Tigers erase a 20-point deficit. He got his first career double-double against an SEC team at LSU, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

He is the first Auburn player to be named SEC Player of the Week since March 9, 2009, when Korvotney Barber took the honor.

Gabriel is averaging 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds this season.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Auburn to open against Georgia in SEC tourney

Auburn will play Georgia in its SEC tournament opener Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

The Tigers (11-19, 4-12 SEC) are the Western Division's fifth seed. The Bulldogs (20-10, 9-7) are the Eastern Division's fourth seed.

Georgia won the teams' only meeting this season 81-72 in overtime in Athens, Ga., on Feb. 5.

The winner plays Alabama, the top seed out of the West, Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

The Tigers won two straight to finish the regular season, rallying from 20 down to beat Ole Miss and 15 down to beat LSU. It was their only back-to-back wins in SEC play this season.

"I know this," Barbee said after the LSU win. "There are a lot of teams in the conference that are heading to Atlanta saying, 'I hope we don't match up with that Auburn team.'"

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Here's the SEC tournament schedule (or click here for the full bracket):

Thursday

Game 1: West No. 5 Auburn vs. East No. 4 Georgia, Game, 1 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 2: East No. 6 South Carolina vs. West No. 3 Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 3: East No. 5 Tennessee vs. West No. 4 Arkansas, 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 4: West No. 6 LSU vs. East No. 3 Vanderbilt, 10 p.m. ET (SEC Network)

Friday

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. West No. 1 Alabama, 1 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. East No. 2 Kentucky, 3:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. East No. 1 Florida, 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network)
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. West No. 2 Mississippi State, 10 p.m .ET (SEC Network)

Saturday

Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 1 p.m .ET (ABC)
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

Sunday

Championship game: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 1 p.m. ET (ABC)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Auburn tops LSU 60-51, earns West's No. 5 seed

Auburn will go into next week's SEC tournament in Atlanta on a roll.

The Tigers beat LSU 60-51 in Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday to get out of last place, earning the SEC West's No. 5 seed in the conference tournament.

Auburn (11-19, 4-12 SEC) closed the regular season with its first back-to-back victories in league play.

Kenny Gabriel and Earnest Ross both scored 16 points for the Tigers, who used a 23-4 run over a 10-minute stretch in the second half to erase a 15-point deficit.

LSU, which will be the No. 6 seed from the West, fell to 11-20 overall and 3-13 in the SEC.

Auburn will play the No. 4 seed out of the East next Thursday in Atlanta at 1 p.m. ET. If Tennessee beats Kentucky tomorrow, the Tigers' opponent will be Vanderbilt. If Kentucky wins tomorrow, Auburn will play Georgia.

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Clash of Tigers to avoid last place in SEC West

Auburn and LSU square off tonight to see who won't finish last in the SEC West. Here's how today's story starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- It has been nearly three months since Auburn played LSU in their conference opener, a miserable performance in which it scored only 6 first-half points in an eventual loss.

It seems like ages ago for the Tigers (10-19, 3-12 SEC), who have shown a competitive streak in the second half of the SEC season.

“I think we’re much better,” Auburn forward Kenny Gabriel said. “We’re all coming along together and playing as one. I think everybody is on the same page.”

Both teams will try to avoid the stigma of finishing in last place when they meet in tonight’s regular-season finale at the Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La., at 7.

The winner earns the West’s No. 5 seed in next week’s SEC tournament in Atlanta, matching up against the East’s No. 4 in the first game Thursday. The loser is the sixth seed, going up against the East’s No. 3 in the late game.

Read the full story here. Follow the blog on Twitter and Facebook.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Women's hoops loses to MSU in SEC tournament

The Auburn women's basketball team was upset in the first round of the SEC tournament Thursday night in Nashville, Tenn., falling to Mississippi State 49-47.

The sixth-seeded Tigers (15-15) blew an 11-point second-half lead. Alli Smalley's potential game-tying jumper at the buzzer glanced off the rim.

Diamber Johnson led 11th-seeded Mississippi State (13-16) with 16 points.

Smalley scored 14 points for the Tigers. Junior forward Chantel Hilliard had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Auburn is likely to end up in the postsesason WNIT.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Auburn erases 20-point deficit in 76-73 win against Ole Miss in home finale

AUBURN, Ala. — For once, a close game went Auburn's way.

After losing back-to-back games on baskets in the final seconds, the Tigers finally prevailed in a nail-biter, rallying from a 20-point deficit to take a late lead — and hold it — in a 76-73 win against Ole Miss at the Auburn Arena on Wednesday.

Kenny Gabriel scored 24 points and Earnest Ross 15 for the Tigers (10-19, 3-12 SEC), who completed the second-biggest comeback in school history. They came back from 22 down to beat Louisville in 1995.

"This team has gotten better," Auburn coach Tony Barbee said. "It's not the same team from the beginning of the year. It's not even the same team from the beginning of the conference season. It's a totally different team."

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It was only the Tigers' second win in league play at the Auburn Arena, but it was perhaps their most exciting one. Auburn out-scored Ole Miss (18-12, 6-9 SEC) 51-32 in the second half, overcoming a career-high 30 points by Rebels guard Dundrecous Nelson, whose potential game-tying halfcourt heave at the final horn was just off target.

"I appreciate them," Barbee said. "They've given me everything they've got. They've given this university everything they've got. It can beat you down, the wins and losses, as a player. They could have folded up tent. But it speaks to their character."

It set off one of few celebrations in the arena this season for the home crowd. Afterward, Barbee doled out high-fives to students over the press table as a couple players rejoiced in the crowd.

"It felt good," Ross said. "Coming out in front of our home crowd, our last home game, to prove to the fans what they can look forward to next year, it's a very big win for us."

Auburn can still steal the West's No. 5 seed in the SEC tournament with a win against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday.

Ole Miss, which beat Auburn by 31 points in Oxford two weeks ago, built what seemed like an insurmountable 41-25 lead into halftime thanks to Nelson, a freshman who was making his third career start. He topped his previous career-high of 17 by halftime, making 6 of his 7 3-pointers before the break.

But the Tigers, who shot only 23.1 percent in the first half, broke out of their offensive slump in the second half. Gabriel jumpstarted things with back-to-back 3-pointers in the first minute to cut the lead to 10.

"I don't know if we've seen a game like this out of Kenny since the first exhibition game," Barbee said while laughing. "How long ago was that?"

It was the start of a 29-9 run to open the second half for Auburn, which, following back-to-back driving layups by guard Chris Denson, turned a 16-point deficit into a four-point lead at 54-50 with 9:06 left.

Center Rob Chubb, who has come off the bench since returning from a suspension following his January arrest, played inspired basketball down the stretch. taking advantage of Ole Miss' foul trouble in the post.

The sophomore scored six straight points and added a block on the defensive end to give Auburn a 69-67 lead with 1:33 left. Chubb finished with 11 points and 3 rebounds.

"Chubb was big," Barbee said. "As their big guys got in foul trouble, we had a clear advantage. We ran some stuff to Chubb when it was nip-and-tuck. And he came through."

The Rebels hung close, however. Guard Chris Warren, the SEC"s second-leading scorer, hit a 3 with 21 seconds remaining to pull Ole Miss within 74-73. Warren finished with 12 points but was only 3-for-16 from the field.

Ole Miss forced a jump ball, tying up Denson to get a turnover with 16.8 seconds left, but the Rebels turned it over back to Auburn. Denson broke free up the court before getting fouled.

The freshman, who finished with 11 points, made both free throws to give the Tigers a three-point lead with 2.1 seconds to go that would hold up.

"We've almost made a habit about getting down and coming back," Chubb said. "It's going to be a problem for other teams when we stop getting that dry spell."

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Alli Smalley named first-team All-SEC

Auburn guard Alli Smalley earned first-team All-SEC honors from the conference Tuesday.

The senior, who was a second-team selection as a junior, averaged a team-best 12.1 points a game and shot 40.1 percent on 3-pointers this season.

She ranks ninth all-time in scoring at Auburn with 1,557 points and is the school's record-holder for career 3-pointers with 218.

She was the only Tigers player selected to the All-SEC teams.

Auburn (15-14) plays Mississippi State in the first round of the SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.

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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Auburn women's hoops the sixth seed in SEC tournament, will play Mississippi State

The SEC women's tournament field is set. Auburn is the sixth seed and will play 11th-seeded Mississippi State on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET in Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.

The Tigers (15-14, 8-8 SEC) wrapped their regular season up with a 76-62 loss to Kentucky on Sunday.

They split the season series with the Bulldogs, winning 45-41 in Starkville and losing 57-45 in Auburn. The winner plays No. 3 Vanderbilt on Friday, also at 10 p.m. ET.

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Here's the full schedule:

Thursday: #9 Arkansas vs. #8 Florida, FSN, 1:00 p.m. ET
Thursday: #10 Alabama vs. #7 LSU, FSN, 3:30 p.m. ET
Thursday: #12 Ole Miss vs. #5 South Carolina, FSN, 7:30 p.m. ET
Thursday: #11 Mississippi State vs. #6 Auburn, FSN, 10:00 p.m. ET
Friday: Winner Game 1 vs. #1 Tennessee, FSN, 1:00 p.m. ET
Friday: Winner Game 2 vs. #2 Kentucky, FSN, 3:30 p.m. ET
Friday: Winner Game 3 vs. #4 Georgia, FSN, 7:30 p.m. ET
Friday: Winner Game 4 vs. #3 Vanderbilt, FSN, 10:00 p.m. ET
Saturday: Game 9, ESPNU, 4:00 p.m. ET
Saturday: Game 10, ESPNU, 6:30 p.m. ET
Sunday: (SEC Championship Game), Game 11, ESPN2, 5:30 p.m. ET

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Late Arkansas dunk sinks Auburn in final seconds for second time this week

AUBURN, Ala. — In erasing a 13-point second-half deficit against Arkansas, Auburn did everything right defensively, contesting shots, stepping into passing lanes and converting turnovers into points.

But when the Tigers needed one last defensive stop, like earlier this week against Alabama, they couldn't get it.

Arkansas forward Delvon Johnson got open after Auburn failed to make a defensive switch, receiving a pass from Julysses Nobles under the hoop and dunking it with 5 seconds remaining to lift the Razorbacks (18-10, 7-7 SEC) to a 57-55 win at the Auburn Arena on Saturday.

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Auburn guard Josh Wallace got a good look at a long 3-pointer from just inside halfcourt at the final horn, but it was too strong, hitting the backboard and rim before bouncing away as the Tigers (9-19, 2-12 SEC) lost in the final seconds for the second time this week.

They lost a heartbreaker at Alabama on Wednesday 51-49 on a tip-in by JaMychal Green with .3 seconds left.

"It's draining," Wallace said. "You want to win. And to come so close and fight so hard, it hurts."

The Tigers did their best to get SEC win No. 3, charging back after being down by 13 early in the second half. Auburn scored seven straight, starting with a 3-pointer by Earnest Ross with 3:49 to play. A Rob Chubb layup cut the lead to two before Kenny Gabriel got open for a layup with 28.1 seconds left to tie the game at 55.

Arkansas held for the final shot, finding an opening when Auburn guard Chris Denson got caught behind Johnson in the post after Gabriel called for a switch after being screened. The feed from Nobles was precise and Johnson had an easy two-handed jam.

"We executed our tails off defensively down the stretch, except for the very last play," Auburn coach Tony Barbee said. "We broke down. ... I told the guys that even though that play happened, we lost this game a long time ago because of the way we started."

The Tigers continued to struggle offensively, finishing with their second-lowest first-half point total this season.

They shot 26 percent in the first half and went into the locker room down 27-20 only by the good fortune of a goaltending call against Arkansas as the clock expired on a Wallace 3-pointer that didn't appear to have a chance at going in. Wallace finished with 9 points and 5 assists.

Auburn missed easy looks all afternoon. Chubb air-balled a hook shot from three feet away. Ross, who finished with 11, missed an uncontested layup after a steal. Gabriel led the team with 13 points but took 16 shots to do so.

"Have we seen that before? Is that something new?" Barbee asked rhetorically. "We have seen it all year long. Offensively, we are what we are."

Still, the Tigers hung close because of effort. They had nine steals, forced 17 turnovers that they converted into into 19 points and matched their SEC-high with five blocks.

Although Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke, who finished with a game-high 17 points, hit several shots to keep it at bay, Auburn stuck close and gave themselves a chance.

"There is no quit in this team," Barbee said. "That is what we have to be about as our foundation. We are coming at you and if we lose it is because we ran out of time, not because we gave up. Our team has done that all year long. I am proud of them for that."

Auburn's Ward working, waiting on his chance

Auburn and Arkansas play this afternoon, but I wrote about somebody who won't even be dressing up for the game -- point guard Varez Ward, a transfer from Texas. Here's how the story starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn guard Varez Ward has perfected the waiting game.

His college debut was delayed a year for prep school. His first chance to shine was delayed because of a bad attitude. And his opportunity to start has been delayed by a quad tear and transfer from Texas to Auburn, where he won’t be eligible to play until next season.

But patience is exactly what is needed by the Tigers (9-18, 2-11 SEC), who continue to play out the stretch today against Arkansas (17-10, 6-7) at the Auburn Arena starting at 1:47 p.m.

“It’s hard to sit there and watch because I know I can be out there helping out my teammates get wins,” Ward said. “I think I’ll be able to come in and compete.”

With Ward, 6-foot-6 Clemson transfer Noel Johnson and injured guard Frankie Sullivan all joining the rotation next season, there appears to be brighter days on the horizon for Auburn, which needs to win one of its final three league games to avoid its worst conference mark since going 2-16 in 1988-89.

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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Auburn hoops invited to play in Hawaiian Diamond Head Classic next December

The Auburn basketball team will play in the 2011 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic from Dec. 22-25 next season.

The Tigers are in a field that includes Clemson, Kansas State, Xavier, UTEP, Long Beach State, Southern Illinois and Hawaii.

"This is part of the process in building a national program at Auburn, and it will be a wonderful experience for our players both on the court and off," Tigers head coach Tony Barbee said.

This is Auburn's third trip to the Hawaiian Islands for a tournament. It won the 1998 United Airlines Tip-Off Classic in Honolulu and played in the 1996 Big Island Invitational in Hilo.

Next season's tournament features 12 games in three days at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii Campus. Each team plays in one game per day, with a bracket format.The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match on Christmas day.

Barbee, who is in his first season with Auburn, previously coached at UTEP.

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Tip-in with .3 seconds left crushes Auburn's upset bid in 51-49 loss at Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Auburn's three leading rebounders sat on the bench, helpless to do anything, having fouled out far earlier in a slow-paced, foul-plagued game at Coleman Coliseum.

They could only watch as Alabama's JaMychal Green followed up a Tony Mitchell miss with a tip-in with .3 seconds on the clock, helping the Crimson Tide avoid an NCAA tournament résumé-crushing loss in a 51-49 win Wednesday night.

"It's very tough to sit on the sideline and not be able to contribute," Auburn guard Earnest Ross said of his vantage point for the final four minutes. "I wish we could have pulled it out."

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Allen Payne's desperation, fullcourt heave hit the backboard and rim for the Tigers (9-18, 2-11 SEC) but bounced out, although it was later confirmed that the shot would not have counted.

It only added more sting to a game that, had Auburn won, would have been the most gratifying moment of Tony Barbee's long first season on the Plains.

"This loss is on me because I did an awful job of teaching these guys how to win," Barbee said. "Because that's a game even in this environment that as bad as we played, we've got to figure out a way to win. And we lost it, so that's on me."

Alabama (19-8, 11-2 SEC) shook off a 26 percent shooting night — its worst of the season — to avoid a loss that would have devastated its already borderline NCAA tournament credentials.

Despite having already clinched the SEC West, the Crimson Tide entered Wednesday with an RPI of 78. The Tigers, who sit at 270, could have dragged that down considerably.

"I'm still trying to find out how we did it," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said, looking at his team's woeful offensive numbers. ""When you look at the numbers, it equates to a loss. ...

"I told them that this was a near-death experience. You've got to understand how close you came to losing some opportunities that are in front of us."

Auburn started hot, using a 17-2 run to lead by as many as 15 in the first half. The Tigers led for 19:15 in the first half in a building where that usually doesn't happen. Crimson Tide opponents had led for only 48:01 of 580 minutes in the Coleman Coliseum this season.

Alabama, meanwhile, couldn't have struggled more. The Tide went 5-for-22 from the floor (22 percent) but managed to put together a 9-0 run just before the break to go into halftime trailing 31-25.

The Tigers kept it going in the second half, however, taking a 41-29 lead with 11:52 on a 3-pointer in the corner by Ross, who was the team's only double-figure scorer with 10.

But fouls and the usual offensive shortcomings proved to be Auburn's Achilles' heel. The Tigers would score only two points in the next nine minutes.

Meanwhile, the fouls piled up. Auburn had 29 in the game, watching center Rob Chubb foul out with 9:19 left, a questionable call that prompted Barbee to earn his third technical in as many games. Ross picked up his fifth foul minutes later followed by Gabriel and Adrian Forbes, three-fifths of the Tigers' starting lineup and the majority of the team's offense.

"I told my guys that there's a big difference between playing hard and fouling," Barbee said. "They were all fouls and we put them to the foul line way too much when they were struggling to score."

Alabama made 27 of 40 free throws while Auburn was only 10-for-19, helping the Tide erase the 12-point deficit down the stretch.

The Crimson Tide took a 49-47 lead with 28.4 seconds left after Green and Trevor Releford both split a pair of free throws. Auburn's Tony Neysmith answered with a shot off the glass that tied things at 49 with 13 seconds to play.

That set up the final play, with Green, who finished with a game-high 17, darting to the hoop to clean up Mitchell's miss with little resistance.

"Give them credit," Barbee said. "They made the plays down the stretch and we didn't."

Auburn returns to action Saturday at home against Arkansas starting at 1:47 p.m. ET.

Live chat from the first half of Auburn-Alabama

OK, not a bad try at live chatting during a basketball game. We might try it in the future as well.

Big thanks to Justin, fearless.true and Bellefay1 for carrying the chat. We covered a bit of everything. Check out the replay below.

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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Tigers 'let go of the rope' in 77-60 loss to Vandy

AUBURN, Ala. — For 26 minutes, Auburn hung with No. 18 Vanderbilt, going back and forth with the SEC East's second-place team in what head coach Tony Barbee likened to a tug of war.

"I thought we let go of the rope in the second half," Barbee said.

The Commodores used a 20-2 run during a seven-minute stretch midway through the second half Saturday in a 77-60 win over the Tigers at the Auburn Arena.

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After showing signs of life during a four-game stretch that saw it earn its only two league victories, Auburn (9-17, 2-10 SEC) took a step backward in the last week, losing to Ole Miss and Vanderbilt by an average of 24 points.

Barbee was particularly irked Saturday by Auburn's 19 turnovers, the second most it has had in an SEC game. Vanderbilt (20-6, 8-4 SEC) didn't press once during the game, instead allowing the Tigers to hurt themselves.

Even guard Earnest Ross, a rare bright spot with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, committed 6 turnovers.

"We just made the worst decisions with the basketball I've ever seen in the second half," Barbee said. "We had guys wide open on backdoors, wide open on post-ups. We had guys who had the ball just taken right out of their hands. Just disappointing."

Even worse, it affected Auburn's defense. After shooting only 36 percent in the first half, Vanderbilt made 60 percent of its shots after the break.

"We started to hang our head and let our lack of offense and our lack of toughness in terms of securing the ball and making great decisions, we let it affect our defense," Barbee said.

A little room was all it took for Vanderbilt guard John Jenkins to shake off a slow start. The sophomore, who leads the league in scoring with 19.8 points per game, struggled early, missing his first five shots.

But, like he did when scoring all 21 of his points in the second half of a victory at Georgia earlier this week, he found his shooting touch, scoring 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. He finished with five of the Commodores' nine 3-pointers.

Jeffery Taylor added 20 points and Brad Tinsley 16 for Vanderbilt, which reached 20 wins for the sixth time under coach Kevin Stallings.

"Those guys are veteran. They don't panic," Barbee said. "They stay to what they do and they made plays and made shots."

Some frustration boiled over for Auburn by the end. Barbee was on his players throughout the second half, but diverted his scorn to the referees after two ticky-tack fouls on Ross and Kenny Gabriel.

He earned a technical and had to be held back by two assistants from storming onto the court to address the refs.

"Coach is always that competitive," said Gabriel, Auburn's only other player in double figures with 13 points. "He likes us to be more physical than the other team. ... It doesn't surprise me that he acted like that. It looked like he was ready to go out there, but I'm glad he didn't."

Auburn returns to action Wednesday at Alabama, starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Auburn hoops clobbered at Ole Miss, 90-59

Auburn followed up its biggest comeback in 12 years by suffering its worst loss of the season, losing 90-59 to Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday night.

The Tigers (9-16, 2-9 SEC), who were coming off a 19-point comeback win against Mississippi State only four days ago, allowed more points than they have in a game this season.

The 31-point loss was Auburn's worst since losing by 37 to Pittsburgh on Dec. 4, 2005.

Guard Zach Graham had a career-high 30 points for the Rebels (17-9, 5-6 SEC), making 7 of his 11 3-point shots. Ole Miss shot 56.8 percent form the field and made 13 3-pointers.

Auburn's lone bright spot was freshman guard Chris Denson, a former Shaw standout, who scored a career-high 16 points.

The Tigers return to action Saturday at home against Vanderbilt at 4 p.m. ET.

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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Tigers hoops gets 2012 commitment from Shaquille Johnson of Alpharetta, Ga.

The Auburn basketball team picked up a win and a commitment Saturday night.

The Tigers added a commitment from power forward Shaquille Johnson of Alpharetta, Ga., according to AuburnSports.com and Inside the Auburn Tigers. It's the team's first commitment for 2012.

Johnson, a three-star recruit, had interest from Georgia, Georgia Tech and Clemson, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Rivals ranks him as the No. 128 player nationally.

The athletic 6-foot-5, 195-pound forward, who is considered a strong dunker, is averaging 8 points and 6 rebounds as a junior at Milton High. He plans to sign in the early period in November.

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