Wendell Green Jr.’s 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists off the bench led host Auburn to a 100-81 victory over rival Alabama on Tuesday night.
The top-ranked Tigers (21-1, 9-0 Southeastern Conference) withstood an early second-half counterpunch from the Crimson Tide (14-8, 4-5) and secured their 18th consecutive victory.
Auburn swept the season series with Alabama thanks to a dominant performance inside as the Tigers muscled their way to a 52-22 scoring advantage in the paint. Auburn connected on 31 of its 39 free throws while the Tide shot 17 of 22 from the foul line.
Green showed off the Tigers’ depth as one of five Auburn players who scored in double figures.
Auburn’s Walker Kessler starred at both ends of the court once again, finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds, eight blocks and four steals. Jabari Smith totaled 17 points while K.D. Johnson finished with 13 points and Allen Flanigan scored 10.
The tandem of Jaden Shackelford and Jahvon Quinerly tried to keep Alabama in the game with 26 and 20 points, respectively.
While the Crimson Tide made 14 3-pointers, they were limited to 35.7 percent shooting from the field (25 of 70). Alabama had won three of its previous four games.
The Tigers shot 57.1 percent in the first half and went 16 of 20 from the free-throw line while outscoring the Tide 26-8 in the paint.
Alabama kept itself in the game in the first half by hitting 7 of 16 shots from 3-point range.
Quinerly scored nine points during a 12-2 run for Alabama over the first four minutes of the second half, cutting Auburn’s lead to 53-49.
The Crimson Tide pulled within 57-55 with 14:34 left on a 3-pointer by Shackelford. However, Auburn answered with a 13-2 run to extend the lead back to double digits.
Noah Gurley finished with 11 points off the bench for Alabama.
Devan Cambridge had eight points and six rebounds off Auburn’s bench, which outscored the Crimson Tide’s reserves 44-20.
–Field Level Media
