Tigers fade down stretch, at foul line

AUBURN — Just when it appeared Florida was content with handing Auburn its first conference victory, the Tigers went and out-uglied themselves.

Auburn took a brief lead late in the second half Wednesday at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, blinked, lost it and played four minutes of mistake-plagued basketball.

A couple DeWayne Reed 3-pointers with the game already lost made the 68-65 defeat more respectable on paper, but the consensus opinion afterward was littered with regret.

“The worst feeling is that you gave it away,” Rasheem Barrett said. “They were just simple basketball plays.”

Auburn’s biggest issues centered at its most familiar stomping grounds: at the free-throw line and behind the 3-point arc.

The Tigers (10-6, 0-2 SEC) made just 10 of their 21 free throws. Senior Quantez Robertson went 0-for-6 on the night, which included misses on the front end of two 1-and-1 chances with less than four minutes left in the game.

“There’s nothing you can do. That’s up to them,” coach Jeff Lebo said. “You’ve got to be able to make those shots. You’ve got to be able to finish.”

Robertson’s struggles went beyond the botched freebies.

The senior guard finished with 2 points, two assists, three turnovers and four fouls. Normally a minutes-eater, Robertson played just 10 in the first half.

“Tez has been struggling mightily,” Lebo said.

Auburn’s struggles, of course, went beyond just one player.

Undersized greatly, Auburn surprisingly found most of its success right under the basket. Korvotney Barber and Lucas Hargrove kept Auburn within striking distance throughout the first half, as the Tigers’ perimeter shooters repeatedly clanked a number of open looks.

Barber and Hargrove combined for 23 of the Tigers’ 34 first-half points, while Auburn’s guards made just 1-of-13 3-point attempts.

It didn’t get much better in the second half.

The Tigers took the Gators, particularly point guard Nick Calathes, out of their offensive rhythm through most of the second half, which helped turn a 40-34 deficit into a 50-48 lead — Auburn’s first of the game — after a layup from Barrett with 7:32 to play.

A 3-pointer from Barrett with 3:56 to play put the Tigers on top again, 55-54, but Florida’s Erving Walker gave Florida the lead back for good with a 3 of his own 10 seconds later.

The Tigers, who attempted a flurry of unrewarded 3-point attempts, didn’t respond with another point until 27 seconds remained on the clock, as the bulk of the 6,399 in attendance streamed toward the exits. During the stretch, Auburn was 0-for-4 from the foul line before it was forced to foul the Gators.

Barrett led Auburn with 15 points. Barber finished with 14, Reed finished with 13 and Hargrove had 11 — all in the first half.

Calathes led all scorers with 17 points.

Auburn finished 5-of-27 from 3-point range and shot just 35 percent from the floor during the second half.

The botched free throws, especially from his seniors, were at the forefront of Lebo’s concerns.

“Our shooting was so bad I don’t know how we were in this game,” Lebo said. “In pressure games, we keep missing our free throws.”

It won’t get any easier for the Tigers.

Auburn hosts Alabama on Saturday before embarking on a tough road stretch against Kentucky and Arkansas.

“We just have to bounce back,” Barrett said. “We won’t forget this game.”

Andrew Gribble covers Auburn athletics for the Opelika-Auburn News. he can be reached at .