BATON ROUGE — A great start couldn’t be sustained for the LSU Tigers Wednesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Wednesday night as the Tigers fell to Auburn, 74-67.
The Tigers fall to 0-3 in the league and 7-10 overall while Auburn is now 10-5 and 1-2 in the league.
LSU scored the first eight points of the game on three-pointers by Garrett Temple and Marcus Thornton and a dunk by Anthony Randolph before Auburn scored at the 17:41 mark to make it 8-2. LSU then ran off the next nine points on two layups by Alex Farrer, making his first career start, a three pointer by Marcus Thornton and a layup by Randolph to make it 17-2 at the 14:33 mark.
The Tigers kept the pressure on the visitors, building a 17-point, 24-7 lead with 6:50 to play in the first half. But the momentum LSU built in the last 10 minutes of the Ole Miss game last Saturday only carried through the first 13 minutes of the Auburn game as the visiting Tigers finally got on track.
Auburn outscored LSU, 21-8 over the remainder of the half to go to the dressing room down just 32-28.
The Tigers were able to get the lead back to nine seven minutes into the second half but Auburn scored nine coming back the other way to tie the game at 43-43 with 10:46 to play. The game was tied eight times before LSU took a 61-60 lead on a Quintin Thornton field goal with 3:48 left.
That would be LSU’s last good moment as the game was just too long as Auburn then ran off 11 straight points to take a 71-61 lead with 59 seconds left.
DeWayne Reed led Auburn with 20 points as Frank Tolbert scored 16 and Quan Prowell 12 and Lucas Hargrove 10.
In the Auburn run, Tolbert gave Auburn the lead for good on a field goal with 3:33 remaining in the game. LSU then turned the ball over on two straight possessions. Auburn, which shot 69 percent from the field in the second half, converted each time with a basket by Quantez Robertson and a 3-pointer by Reed.
Two foul shots by Prowell and a basket by Rasheem Barrett gave Auburn the double-figure lead. LSU ended its scoring drought on a field goal by Marcus Thornton with 45 seconds remaining.
Marcus Thornton matched his season high with 27 points for LSU. Temple scored 17, while Randolph had 12 points.
LSU HEAD COACH JOHN BRADY QUOTES
Opening Statement
“The last 10 minutes of the game we weren’t able to get the stops that were necessary, and we weren’t able to make timely shots when we had an opportunity to make a few. We rebounded the ball OK. We got to the free throw line. We took care of the ball in the second half. We weren’t able to stop them the last 10 minutes, and we weren’t able to score with the opportunities that we had the last 10 minutes.”
On if Auburn made any adjustments offensively to spark their scoring run …
“We were prepared. They just made some shots, and we weren’t able to stop them. There wasn’t anything new or tricky that they put in. (Auburn head coach) Jeff (Lebo) has run the same things, as most teams do, for the four years he has been there. They were able to make some of those plays. Alex (Farrer) had an open look. Marcus Thornton had one. He went to the free throw line and missed the front end. There were some chances for us to do some things. We run a play out of a timeout, and it goes through Anthony’s (Randolph) hands.
“The opportunities that we had that I thought were good opportunities we weren’t able to do it. Defensively, as well as we played the first half, the last 10 minutes, they just scored over us or through us. You can say it’s fatigue, but they had the same number of players we did. Maybe it’s our inexperience, but our inconsistency of play is glaring. Either in the first half or second half, who knows when it is going to show. It is just glaring at moments of the game.”
On how the team can turn it around against Vanderbilt …
“We have to shoot a high percentage, make some threes, try to get some stops, take care of the ball and rebound. That is about as simple as I can tell you. There is not any magical wand you can wave. We just have to execute, take care of the ball and rebound. Our team has to make some baskets. Vanderbilt is awfully good at home, and that is a tough place to try to get well.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On the second half…
“We weren’t guarding as well the second half as we were the first half. It’s mainly defense. If we miss shots, but stop them, the score stays the same.”
On how Auburn did in the second half…
“They just hit shots when they needed to and we didn’t execute when we needed to.”
On Auburn trying to limit his penetration….
“They tried to force me to shoot for three, but I didn’t mind that. I just wanted to keep us in the game so we could make a run for it in the end.”
On the team…
“Last year there were a lot of expectations. This team has so much talent. So, to lose these games can be frustrating.”
On playing Vanderbilt…
“We are still positive. It’s not like we are a team that can’t win games. If we were losing by twenty or thirty points, it would be different. We can win these games. We have to get our attitudes right because it is only going to get tougher going to Vanderbilt, but we also look at it as an opportunity to win against a top twenty team.”
AUBURN GUARD DEWAYNE REED
On getting in a rhythm shooting…
“Yeah, we were feeling it. Our coach told us to shoot the open shot. If it’s there shoot it.”
On the mood at halftime…
“Coach just told us, ?This is it. We are in the SEC, and we’re playing away. It’s going to be tough.’ We’ve got to take our points chip by chip.”
On Reed working harder after practice…
“Well, I got in the gym after the Arkansas game. I felt kind of bad. I had to get in the gym and work. I shot about 500 shots. I got my shot going, and it paid off against LSU.”
AUBURN HEAD COACH JEFF LEBO
Opening statement …
“I was proud of our kids. When we came out we were flat as a pancake. Quan (Prowell) couldn’t move because of his knee. I don’t think he got loose until the second half. Rasheem (Barrett) looked slow. At least we got some energy out of Lucas (Hargrove) in the first half. He didn’t score in the first half, but he brought some energy to our team. We got it down to a manageable game before halftime, and that was big for us.”
On DeWayne Reed …
“He finally made some shots that we were waiting for. He’s actually been playing a lot better for us lately, but he still wasn’t putting the ball in the basket. He made some key ones to get us back in the first half.”
On the second half …
“We finally did some things offensively. We scored a lot in the second half. It seemed like we scored every time we had the ball. We scored 46 in the second half.”
On coming back from a 17-2 deficit …
“It’s big. I didn’t think our guys were excited enough in the locker room after the game. When you win an SEC game, I don’t care where it is, you should be excited, especially on the road.”
On their man-to-man defense …
“We had to deal with playing man-to-man, which I didn’t think we could play for long stretches. We played man-to-man from about the 15 minute mark of the first half all the way to the end of the game. It’s taking its toll, but we got good reads out of our players, and I’m proud of them.”