By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY: A game that began in a wildly unpredictable manner ended basically according to script.
Despite an opening sequence that featured nine Auburn offensive rebounds before a make and an immediate 6-0 LSU run, the No. 1 Tigers took control of the game and safely put it away 87-74 in Baton Rouge.
Cam Carter’s runout dunk punctuated the 6-0 LSU start as the most boisterous Maravich Center crowd of the season roared in unison. LSU opened the game 5-for-6 from the floor and looked prepared to play.
But, as has been the issue for the entire season, the turnovers came early and came often. The Tigers turned the ball over 15 times in the first half. That allowed Auburn to take 45 field goals to LSU’s 23 attempts.
From the 13:22 mark of the first half to the 7:21 mark, a span of 7:01, LSU shot 1-for-5 from the floor with five turnovers. Auburn exploded for a 17-2 run. That took the game from 14-9 LSU to 26-16 Auburn, and the top-ranked Tigers truly never relinquished control after that.
LSU drew within five with 12:59 left in the game after seven straight points from Jordan Sears who cashed in a four-point play and then splashed a contested three just 26 seconds later. That spurred an Auburn timeout and whipped the Assembly Center crowd back into a frenzy.
Auburn immediately grabbed an offensive rebound and drained a triple to stretch the lead back to eight.
LSU hung around. Threes continued to fall. After Curtis Givens hit one from the corner and Carter made a pair of free throws from a run out foul, LSU trailed by just six with 7:35 left.
Broome quickly responded with a three-point play of his own. Once again, LSU was at arm’s length.
Broome finished the game with 26 points and 16 rebounds while limping around the floor on a tender ankle he injured three weeks ago.
The knockout blow came in the form of a Chaney Johnson three with 3:24 to play that put Auburn up 12. A sizeable orange and blue presence in the PMAC broke out into a “Let’s Go, Auburn” chant as the home faithful headed to the exits.
Truth be told, the homestanding Tigers probably wasted a solid shooting night against a team that just had them outclassed.
Auburn’s length, toughness and tenacity made most possessions really tough on LSU and resulted in the 20 turnovers. When Auburn needed a basket, they got it.
That’s what they’ve done all year, and it’s why they have three top-10 wins and a single loss.
Bruce Pearl’s team is destined for an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed, and it showed that on Wednesday.
LSU just isn’t in that realm.
THE STATS: Auburn attempted 80 shots. LSU shot 51. A shot disparity of 29 is impossible to overcome against anyone, much less the No. 1 team in the country.
LSU turned the ball over 20 times which resulted in 20 Auburn points. Sears and Dji Bailey combined for 10.
Auburn grabbed 25 offensive rebounds, a season-high, which led to 20 second-chance points. Auburn won the glass 47-to-34.
Auburn had 15 steals which was also season-high for the Tigers.
LSU shot 8-for-22 from three-point range for 36 percent. LSU missed six of their last seven to get to that number.
Carter and Sears entered the game 50-for-51 on free throws in SEC play. They missed five combined in the game.
LSU blocked nine shots, three each from Corey Chest and Daimion Collins.
Carter scored 24 points on 7-for-9 shooting. He made both of his threes.
Auburn shot 40 percent from the floor and 32 percent from three.
THE QUOTES: LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon on LSU’s recurring turnovers…
“It’s a challenge. I wish I had the solution at this point. I thought their traps really bothered us. Their physicality on that side of the ball. They also influenced a lot of action to our left hand and really funneled things to shot blockers, and we did not handle that well at all. I’ve got to find some solutions to eliminate that. It’s the difference. You look at the second half when we cut it to six, we had turned the ball over two times.”
Auburn forward Johni Broome on the Auburn fans in the building…
“It’s very impactful for us. (LSU) cut the lead to six or seven at the media timeout, and you heard “Let’s Go, Auburn” chant going through the arena. So that gave us one little spark for us to go on one more run and give us the effort to pull the game out. When The Jungle travels, it means a lot to us.”
Auburn Head Coach Bruce Pearl on LSU’s SEC schedule…
“Look at their schedule so far. With the exception of opening up against Vanderbilt, where maybe not everyone knew how good Vanderbilt was. Right, now you see how good Vanderbilt is…then they go on the road to Ole Miss or on the road to Alabama or on the road to Texas A&M. Almost everybody is going to lose those games. And then the No. 1 team in the country comes to town. That’s tough. They’ve got pieces, and they’re definitely going to win some games.”
Pearl on Cam Carter…
“Cam Carter is a great player, great scorer. He shot a great percentage tonight. We did a good job limiting his touches, deny, but he got fouled a lot. He went to the foul line 12 times.”
