Auburn blown out by West Virginia

BIRMINGHAM — The record will show that Auburn scored the first basket of Wednesday’s game against West Virginia. The Tigers even held the lead for almost two minutes.

But that was as good as it got for AU.

West Virginia dominated the first half and cruised in the second, coming away with an 88-59 win in the Big East-SEC Invitational.

After falling behind 2-0, WVU blew the game open with a 28-4 run. The Mountaineers led 28-6 with 8:25 to play in the first half.

AU (4-2) never threatened again and fell behind by as much as 37 after halftime.

Auburn’s defense was no match for West Virginia’s hot shooters, who hit 61 percent of their shot attempts.

Guard Alex Ruoff scored 28 points; forward Joe Alexander had 17 for West Virginia (6-1).

“It got away from us early,” Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo said. “We didn’t have any answers for Alexander and Ruoff. They’re terrific players.

And the Tigers’ offense wasn’t much better than the defense. Auburn (4-2) committed a whopping 20 turnovers, including 11 in the first half.

AU too often settled for contested shots against the Mountaineers’ matchup defense, which bottled up forwards Vot Barber and Quan Prowell and forced Auburn’s guards to carry the offensive load.

They weren’t up to the challenge. Point guard DeWayne Reed scored 19 points, but missed 12 of his 19 shots.

“We couldn’t get two stops in a row and we couldn’t score two in a row,” Lebo said. “Their size and strength really bothered us.”

Prowell, who was suspended for the first five games of the season, looked tentative and out of sync in his debut. The 6-foot-8 forward finished with 4 points in 23 minutes, attempting just four shots.

“That was a tough game for Quan,” Lebo said.

The game was the second in a Big East-SEC Invitational doubleheader, which started with Alabama losing to Georgetown.

Most of the Crimson Tide’s raucous student section stayed behind to cheer for WVU. Though relatively few fans in West Virginia blue and gold could be spotted in the BJCC Arena stands, their signature cheer — “Let’s Go, Mountaineers” — rained down from the crimson-clad Alabama students.

They had plenty to cheer for.

Auburn, meanwhile, wore down quickly. The Tigers played seven players in their previous game, Sunday against George Washington, and had just eight scholarship players dressed out Wednesday.

“We looked tired,” Lebo said. “We didn’t have the juice and the energy we’ve had in our other games.”

Auburn will take a 10-day break for finals. The Tigers’ next game is Dec. 15 against Southern in Mobile.