Breaking news;5 star guard Flip commitment to auburn tigers basketball shock commitment over Tennessee Arizona and more…
Breaking news;5 star guard Flip commitment to auburn tigers basketball shock commitment over Tennessee Arizona and more…
With March Madness just around the corner, the Auburn Tigers have jumped out to a commanding lead in college basketball. The 11-1 Tigers are in first place in the SEC, coming off of a 94-85 win over the rival Alabama Crimson Tide.
With the Tigers being ranked No.1 in the AP poll once again, fans will now be enticed to search for gear ahead of March’s tournament. Fanatics has plenty of Auburn basketball gear to suit any Tigers fan
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Any time Auburn and Alabama play in any sport, it means something within the borders of its home state, with precious, hard-earned bragging rights on the line.
This weekend, more than just the state of Alabama had its eyes on the Crimson Tide and Tigers’ men’s basketball teams. The entire country did — and under that gaze, Auburn rose to the occasion.
On Saturday, in a matchup of the top two teams in the nation, Auburn got off to a fast start and held off multiple runs from Alabama for a 94-85 victory at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
In the first-ever SEC game between the two highest-ranked teams in the sport, the Crimson Tide never led, marking the first time that had ever happened in a home game since Nate Oats was hired as the program’s coach in 2019, according to research from ESPN.
Johni Broome lived up to his billing as one of the favorites for various national player of the year awards, finishing with a team-high 19 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and two blocks while playing for the final stretches of the second half on a reaggravated ankle injury. Broome was one of six Auburn players to finish in double figures, a group that also included Denver Jones (16 points), Chad Baker-Mazara (15), Miles Kelly (15), Chaney Johnson (14) and Tahaad Pettiford (13).
The Tigers looked strong defensively for much of the game, holding a high-powered Alabama offense to 33 points in the first half. The Crimson Tide, who average 10.2 made 3-pointers per game, missed 17 of its first 19 attempts from beyond the arc, many of which were contested by Auburn’s relentless on-ball pressure that routinely gave Alabama guards little room to work or execute dribble hand-offs.
Mark Sears finished with a team-high 18 points for the Crimson Tide, but missed 13 of his 17 shots, including nine of his 11 3s.
After trailing by nine at halftime and as many as 14 in the second half, Alabama fought back to tie the game at two different points in the second half, but after the second of those, Auburn scored seven unanswered points to build a 75-68 lead with 5:35 left. The Crimson Tide wouldn’t get closer than five points for the remainder of the game.
With the victory, the Tigers, who were already No. 1 in the Associated Press top 25, will move up to the No. 1 spot of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll Monday.
Auburn and Alabama will meet again on March 8 at Neville Arena, the Tigers’ home arena.
Here’s a look at the score, updates, highlights and more from Auburn’s victory over Alabama:
