National Basketball Association
Auburn 99, Alabama 81
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Where: Neville Arena, Auburn, Alabama
Officials:
# Courtney Green, # Joe Lindsay, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
9121
By Field Level Media
Jaylin Williams scored 26 points, Johni Broome added 24 points and No. 12 Auburn cruised to a 99-81 win over No. 16 Alabama in a Southeastern Conference matchup Wednesday night in Auburn, Ala.
Auburn (19-4, 8-2) pulled into a tie with Alabama (16-7, 8-2) and South Carolina (20-3, 8-2) for first place in the SEC standings.
Tre Donaldson added 14 points for the Tigers, who avenged a loss at Alabama two weeks ago. Chad Baker-Mazara finished with 13 points.
Mark Sears scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a losing effort for the Crimson Tide. Grant Nelson had 16 points before he fouled out, and Rylan Griffen had 14 points while shooting 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Alabama committed 15 turnovers, compared with five turnovers for Auburn.
The Crimson Tide never led in the second half.
Alabama pulled within 59-48 on a 3-pointer by Griffen with 17:13 to go.
The Tigers responded with an 11-2 run to make it 70-50 with 13:09 remaining. Broome made a pair of free throws to put Auburn on top by 20 points in front of a raucous home crowd.
The Crimson Tide fell behind by as many as 23 points with 1:55 to play. Denver Jones made two free throws to increase Auburn's advantage to 97-74 for its largest lead of the night.
Auburn raced to a 55-41 lead at the half.
The score was 20-18 in favor of Auburn when the Tigers went on a 12-0 run to seize a 32-18 lead with 10:01 remaining in the first half. Williams scored seven straight points to finish the run with a 3-pointer, a dunk and a pair of free throws.
Alabama answered with a 19-4 run to grab a 37-36 advantage with 4:39 left in the half. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. made two 3-pointers during the run, which also included a 3-pointer from Griffen.
Momentum swung back toward the Tigers, who finished the half with a 19-4 run of their own to seize a 14-point lead at the break. Williams capped the scoring with a dunk off a feed from Tre Donaldson.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Alabama |
|
Auburn |
Mark Sears 25 |
Scoring |
Jaylin Williams 26 |
Mark Sears 4 |
Assists |
Tre Donaldson 4 |
Mark Sears 9 |
Rebounds |
Johni Broome 7 |
Mark Sears 12 |
Free Throws Made |
Johni Broome 9 |
Aaron Estrada 1 |
Steals |
K.D. Johnson 3 |
Grant Nelson 2 |
Blocks |
Johni Broome 5 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Alabama
|
81 |
37.3 |
9-26 |
28-35 |
8 |
34 |
5 |
2 |
15 |
Auburn
|
99 |
42.2 |
5-19 |
40-50 |
15 |
36 |
12 |
13 |
5 |