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Message: <blockquote data-quote="UA Press Release" data-source="post: 1418351" data-attributes="member: 21087"><p>[URL unfurl="true"]https://rolltide.com/news/2022/1/11/mens-basketball-no-4-4-auburn-hands-no-24-25-alabama-an-81-77-defeat.aspx[/URL]</p><p></p><p><strong>TUSCALOOSA, Ala.</strong> – The No. 4/4 Auburn Tigers handed the No. 24/25 Alabama Crimson Tide its first home defeat in 17 games with an 81-77 victory Tuesday night inside Coleman Coliseum. Alabama battled back from a 14-point deficit midway through the second half to tie the game late but Auburn connected on four consecutive free throws in the final seconds to result in the final margin.</p><p></p><p>The Crimson Tide (11-5, 2-2 SEC) had five players finish in double figures to lead a balanced scoring attack, led by <a href="https://rolltide.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7368" target="_blank">Jahvon Quinerly's</a> 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Guard <a href="https://rolltide.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7370" target="_blank">Jaden Shackelford</a> added 13 points and seven boards while <a href="https://rolltide.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7376" target="_blank">Noah Gurley</a> (11 points), <a href="https://rolltide.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7365" target="_blank">Darius Miles</a> (10 points, nine rebounds) and <a href="https://rolltide.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7361" target="_blank">Keon Ellis</a> (10 points, seven rebounds) reached double digits.</p><p></p><p>Auburn (15-1, 4-0) was led by freshman Jabari Smith's 25 points and four blocked shots, while freshman Wendell Green Jr. added 19 points, four assists and three steals off the bench.</p><p></p><h2>Head Coach <a href="https://rolltide.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1199" target="_blank">Nate Oats</a> Postgame comments</h2><p>"This was a tough loss. I thought our guys fought hard to get back in the game at the end. You got to give Auburn a ton of credit. That is a hard playing, tough group. We have got a lot of respect for them. I told our guys that they have lost one game all year, and it was a tight game. They are close to being a top-three team in the country. We needed to play our best game in order to win that one and we didn't. We gave ourselves a chance there late. We didn't execute like we needed to down the stretch. There is a lot to learn from, had a few positives. They are one of the best defensive teams in the country. Our three starting guards went 9-for-38, so they did a great job on them. We just didn't get the firepower we needed. I thought we did improve on the defensive end after (our last game), but just didn't have enough to beat a team as good as Auburn." </p><p></p><h2>Team Stats</h2> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The loss snaps a 17-game home winning streak, which was the sixth-longest in the nation entering the contest</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The contest featured 10 ties and eight lead changes throughout</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alabama's 24 made free throws matched the most in a game this season while the 82.8 percent shooting from the charity stripe (24-of-29) was the second best in a game this year</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Crimson Tide's 22.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc (7-of-21) matched a season-low mark</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">UA's top three scorers (Shackelford, Quinerly and Ellis) combined to hit 9-of-38 (23.7 percent) from the field and 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from beyond the arc</li> </ul><h2>First Half</h2> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The two teams fought for control in the opening 14 minutes of play as the game saw seven ties and eight lead changes in that span</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Auburn was the first to create a gap, going on a 11-2 run for a 34-25 lead with 3:51 on the clock</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Tide responded with a 10-4 run to cut the lead to three, but a last-minute layup from Devan Cambridge pushed the Tigers out to a 40-35 edge at the half</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Eight players contributed to Alabama's 35 points with Gurley pacing the squad with seven</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">UA shot 11-of-31 from the floor while Auburn made 16-of-37</li> </ul><h2>Second Half</h2> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">After UA closed the gap to two, 42-40 at the 18:46 mark, Auburn pushed out to a 12-point lead with a 19-9 run for a 61-49 lead with 13:13 to play</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Miles sparked an 8-0 run to bring the Tide within four 61-57 with 11:09 on the clock</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Auburn would respond with a 12-2 spurt to take its largest lead of the game at 73-59 with just under eight minutes to play</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Crimson Tide would not go away and scored 14 consecutive points as part of 16-3 run, including an emphatic dunk by <a href="https://rolltide.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=7372" target="_blank">JD Davison</a>, to tie the game at 73-73 with under five minutes to play</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The two teams traded points in the final minutes but four consecutive free throws in the waning second by the Tigers would prove to be the final margin</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Both Shackelford and Quinerly had nine points in the half to lead UA, while Miles posted six points, five rebounds and a block  </li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>

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