AUBURN – Between them, Auburn and Alabama have four Southeastern Conference victories. Three of them are over LSU, which hasn’t won a league game.
It won’t be a clash of the basketball titans when the Tigers and the Tide clash at 3 p.m. today at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum. But it’s still Auburn. And it’s still Alabama. And that means it matters.
Auburn coach Jeff Lebo has had his way with Alabama in recent seasons. Auburn swept the Tide last season, split in 2008 and swept in 2007.
At 10-11 overall and 1-5 in the Southeastern Conference, Auburn is in desperate need of a win. Alabama, under first-year coach Anthony Grant, comes in with some momentum. The Tide (13-7 and 3-3) has won two straight at home, upsetting Mississippi State and beating LSU for the second time this season.
Four of Auburn’s five SEC losses have been to nationally ranked teams. In three of those games, it has had double-digit leads in the first half, only to fade badly in the second half.
Sophomore guard Frankie Sullivan says it has been a frustrating run.
“We’ve just got to find a way to finish,” Sullivan said. “We’ll be in the games until the last five minutes of the second half, and we just have a mental meltdown. Everybody wants to be a hero … one pass and a shot, and that’s not really helping our team chemistry.
“We are a better team, but we’re just not making the right decisions. I don’t know if we get tired, or everybody wants to win so bad. Until we get that chemistry going, it’s going to be hard.”
Defense, Lebo says, has been a problem for the Tigers, especially late in games.
“We have been in games 34-35 minutes and haven’t been able to get enough stops or score,” Lebo said. “We’ve had a two- or three-minute stretch where we let games get away from us. We’ve been in every game. It’s been frustrating for the kids.”
Alabama has been stingy on defense, giving up just 62.4 points per game, second best in the SEC. The Tide has been particularly tough on 3-point shooting, a staple of Auburn’s offense. In SEC games, the Tide is giving up just 57.4 points per game.
Offensively, senior Mikhail Torrence shows the way for Alabama, averaging 15.2 points per game. Sophomore JaMychal Green averages 14.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.DeWayne Reed leads Auburn with 16.4 points per game. Sullivan averages 13.5, Lucas Hargrove 13.1 and Tay Waller 12.1.
