Tigers edge Tide in final seconds

AUBURN — Auburn had three opportunities for redemption Saturday.

All three got the Tigers halfway to one of their most-needed wins of the season — against Alabama, nonetheless — but didn’t exactly push them over the top.

“We can make it like a dental chair for me over there,” coach Jeff Lebo said.

Auburn’s 58-57 victory wasn’t official until Frankie Sullivan swiped the ball from Alabama’s Justin Knox as time expired. But when every shred of doubt was finally eliminated, there was plenty of reason to celebrate and laugh about all the tension afterward.

“We’ve lost to good teams,” Lebo said, referring to the four conference losses Auburn has suffered against teams currently in the Associated Press top 25. “We just have to be able to play for a full 40 minutes, make better decisions and better plays. And they did that (today). It was huge.”

Auburn’s sixth win in the last seven against Alabama put the Tigers (11-11, 2-5) right where they were last year when they started their improbable run to second place in the SEC West. Saturday’s win had much of the same feel as the game that jump-started the run, a buzzer-beater victory over Tennessee, and it elicited the same type of optimistic feelings among Auburn’s players.

“Hopefully,” guard Frankie Sullivan said, “we get rolling like we did last year.”

Perhaps, after not being able to finish a number of close SEC games to start the season, it was wrong to assume that Auburn would make it easy for the largely pro-Tigers crowd of 10,775.

The Tigers overcame a relentless and revived Crimson Tide defense to put together the game’s only major run, a 10-0 spurt capped by one of Tay Waller’s three breakaway dunks to take a 43-40 lead. Waller had quite possibly his best all-around game of the season, finishing with a game-high 20 points and four steals.

Alabama responded with a Senario Hillman 3-pointer on the other end, as the teams proceeded to trade baskets and defensive stands all the way until the game’ final tense moments.

“I think this is the best Alabama defense I have played against,” said senior Lucas Hargrove, who finished with 14 points. “It’s a big difference.”

Hargrove’s second of two big “and-one” layups in the game’s late moments put the Tigers behind 57-56 with 2:02 to play. Neither team capitalized on offensive opportunities until Auburn was forced to foul Mikhail Torrance with 22 seconds to play after Anthony Brock’s missed 3-pointer fell into Chris Hines’ hands.

Torrance, the SEC’s leading free-throw shooter at 86.2 percent, missed the front end of the one-and-one to give Auburn yet another chance to take the lead.

DeWayne Reed, who had been having one of his worst games of the season with six turnovers and just one assist, drove the ball straight to the hoop and drew a foul, putting him at the line with 12 seconds to play.

He made the first to tie it, but the second rimmed out, forcing the Tigers, who came into Saturday’s game ranked last in scoring defense among SEC teams, to make another defensive stand.

“We dug down deep,” Sullivan said. “We played aggressive.”

Reed embodied the aggressive part, as he risked committing a foul and went for a steal on Torrance, who was having trouble bringing the ball up the court. Reed swatted it loose, picked it up and promptly found a streaking Hargrove, who had his layup rim out after drawing a foul with 3.1 seconds to play.

“Any other time coach Lebo would have gone crazy, but he got the steal,” Sullivan said.

“Coach did go crazy,” Hargrove said, “but it was all good.”

Hargrove sunk his first free throw but missed the second, giving Alabama one final chance. Tony Mitchell sent a baseball pass down to the opposite free-throw line to Knox, who fumbled the pass before Sullivan sealed the victory with his clutch swat.

“I took a gamble by trying to steal the ball without getting a foul,” Sullivan said. “Usually I do get the foul, so I’m glad they didn’t call it this time.”