Auburn’s NCAA Tournament hopes are dwindling due to a recent stretch of seven setbacks in eight games.
But the Tigers have a real opportunity to nab a big win and perhaps ignite a late-season charge when they visit No. 16 Alabama on Saturday night at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Auburn (16-14, 7-10 Southeastern Conference) hopes it started that run with Tuesday’s 88-74 home victory over LSU.
Despite the large numbers of losses, the Tigers are right on the cusp of a soft tournament bubble.
“At the end of the day, through all the difficulty and all the struggles, we’re still in position to make the tournament, and we just got to try and find a way to have that belief,” first-year coach Steven Pearl said earlier this week.
Star guard Tahaad Pettiford scored 27 points in the victory over LSU and has averaged 25.5 points over the past two games. He made 10 of 16 from the field in both games.
The stellar contest followed outings of nine and four points in which Pettiford combined to make 3 of 18 shots.
The sophomore ranks second on the team in scoring (15.1 points per game) and 3-pointers (56) while averaging a team-high 3.6 assists. He made it clear where his focus lies.
“Trying to get some more wins,” Pettiford said. “Take us to the promised land.”
Keyshawn Hall leads Auburn with a 20.6 scoring average and is tied for the team rebounding lead (6.9) with KeShawn Murphy.
Pettiford had 25 points and seven assists and Hall added 24 points when the Tigers lost 96-92 against the visiting Crimson Tide on Feb. 7.
Labaron Philon Jr. had 25 points and six assists as Alabama defeated Auburn for the fifth time in the past seven meetings.
The Crimson Tide (22-8, 12-5) had a season-best eight-game winning streak snapped Tuesday when they lost 98-88 to host Georgia.
Alabama made 16 3-pointers to reach double digits in that category for the 11th straight game but was outrebounded 40-30 and outscored in the paint 40-18.
“Our rebounding has been killing us lately,” Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said. “For our leading rebounder to have five and then two people with four of them, it’s going to be hard to win games.”
Guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. was the Alabama player with five. Leading rebounder Amari Allen had just one in 21 minutes before fouling out to see his average drop to 7.1.
Allen, a freshman, is 1-for-7 shooting in each of the past two games for five total points. The slump comes after he scored 23 points and made a career-high six 3-pointers in a 100-75 home win over Mississippi State on Feb. 25.
“Look, I use this term all the time. When you’re locked in, you’re locked in,” Oats said in reference to Allen. “And when you’re locked in, you’re getting rebounds, you’re making defensive plays, you’re attacking the floor on offense. You step to the line, you make your free throws. And he’s gotta get back locked in.”
Philon is always locked in for Alabama and scored 26 points for his 17th 20-point effort of the season last time out. He ranks second in the SEC with a 21.5 scoring average.
Wrightsell scored 19 points against Georgia and is averaging 19 over the past four games. Over the past three contests, he is shooting 50% (15 of 30) from 3-point range.
