The Auburn Tigers picked up their best win of the season on Wednesday night.
The Tigers (19-4, 8-2 SEC) out-muscled the Alabama Crimson Tide (16-7, 8-2 SEC) en route to a 99-81 victory.
It was a foul-filled, fast-paced contest that the Tigers controlled for most of the way. It’s both Auburn basketball’s second Quad 1 and ranked win of the season.
Here are takeaways from the victory.
The free-throw line was Auburn’s best friend
The Tigers and Tide combined for 61 total fouls, giving the two teams a combined 85 free throw attempts in this game.
That is, to put it simply, absurd.
The most entertaining part of the charity stripe escapade was the fact that almost all of the fouls were earned. Both Auburn and Alabama played very physical, aggressive defense and earned the whistles blown their way. Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, the Tigers found themselves making a single-game program record 40 free throws out of their 50 (!) attempts.
The previous mark was 39, set against Mississippi State in 1959, per Justin Ferguson of the Auburn Observer.
“I know that people are gonna look at those stats and go, ‘Whoa, that was a free-throw fest,’ Bruce Pearl said in the postgame press conference. “We were handsy with their guards. We were pounding the ball inside, and they were climbing all over us. I don’t think the officials wanted to call it like that.”
For the most part, the defense worked for Auburn. Alabama only shot 37.3% from the floor and 34.6% from beyond the arc, both underneath their season averages. Even more impressive, Tigers also snagged 13 steals and 12 blocks. The way Auburn switches without having significant matchup issues one through five is impressive. The Tigers consistently switched big men onto Alabama’s guards and did not have many problems.
“I think our ability to switch out and have our bigs be able to guard on the perimeter and our guards go on the inside bothers people,” Bruce Pearl said.
Auburn’s front court is the best in the SEC
Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome were at it once again.
The two combined for 50 of Auburn’s 99 points, including a career-high 26 points from Jaylin Williams, who shot 8-of-13 from the floor. Alabama simply didn’t have an answer for them, and when asked why they didn’t double the Tigers’ dynamic duo, Tide head coach Nate Oats said they were afraid of giving up shots elsewhere/
“We didn’t want to double, because I saw that when teams double, they gave up open 3s,” Oats said. “Broome and Williams are really good. They may have the best frontcourt in the league.”
Jaylin Williams has been on a tear through conference play. He’s averaging 15.6 points per game on a blistering 61.3% from the floor. His true shooting percentage of 71.7% leads the team in SEC games. His point total is only second to Broome, who is averaging 16.5 points per game. Both also combined for 13 rebounds, three assists, seven blocks and three steals against the Tide tonight.
This is the best frontcourt in the conference.
Cashing in on mistakes – while not making many themselves
The Tigers only turned the ball over five times. According to Justin Ferguson, that 6.5% turnover percentage is the program’s lowest mark in an SEC game since 2012.
This, coming after the Tigers posted a 4.0% turnover percentage against Indiana earlier this year. Bruce Pearl has Auburn playing disciplined, efficient basketball. They typically don’t make a ton of mistakes.
When the other team does, Auburn has made sure to capitalize.
Alabama’s 15 turnovers were converted into 22 points, an excellent mark. The Tide also struggled to keep Auburn off of the offensive glass – 15 times in total – and the Tigers made them pay with 24 second-chance points.
Both of those stats alone would win tough games in the SEC to close out the regular season.
Props to forward Chris Moore for playing his heart out, snagging four of those offensive rebounds. Despite not scoring a single point, Moore had five rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block in 15 minutes of play. It was nothing but effort from the senior.
“He plays with great effort, plays unselfishly and with great physicality,” Pearl said. “It was fun to see our team so fired up for him. And we left him in. He was supposed to come out, and Chad Baker was like, ‘No, no. Leave him in.'”
Final notes
– Auburn had 26 fastbreak points as opposed to Alabama’s eight
– Alabama guard Mark Sears finished with 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists
– Starting guard Tre Donaldson had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists
– Nine players had at least four fouls, two of which (Grant Nelson, Aaron Estrada) fouled out
– Auburn’s bench poured in 31 points, opposed to Alabama’s eight
– Auburn is averaging 80.8 points per game in SEC play, 90.3 PPG over their last three games
– KD Johnson tied for a game-high plus/minus of +25 (Johni Broome was also +25)
– Alabama guard Rylan Griffen had a plus/minus of -30