By Kenneth Cross
No. 15 Auburn struggled in the first half as the Tigers fell, 80-77, at West Virginia in Saturday’s SEC-Big 12 challenge. However, opportunities came for the Tigers in the second half as they pitched a near miss.
Having forward Johni Broome in foul trouble in that first half was undeniably a major problem as he didn’t score in his 9:12 on the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
Not having Broome allowed the Mountaineers to foster an inside-outside attack as West Virginia scored 16 first-half points in the paint while guard Erik Stevenson netted 18 points in giving WVU a 45-29 halftime lead.
Stevenson, who was close to coming to Auburn, finished with a career-high of 31 points as he made 10-of-17 field goals in netting seven threes.
After Auburn missed potential game-tying free throws late in the game, Stevenson hit a pair of those three-pointers in clutch moments to allow the Mountaineers to retake a pair of four-point leads.
“I have seen Erik shoot too much,” analyzed West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins. “We have talked about it. I think everybody has a tendency to have their shoulder back. You shoot online rather than getting it up. He got it up great today and got under it well.”
Broome was aggressive on both ends of the floor in the second half and he scored 15 points when he finished at 7-of-9 from the field in the second half.
“He did a great job inside, five assists, one turnover,” summarized Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “He is really good in there. We just have to keep getting him touches. He does not get to the foul line as much as he should have.”
When Broome returned to start the second half, Auburn cut its deficit almost with immediacy over the first four minutes.
Broome had a pair of baskets in the paint and Wendell Green, converted an and-one opportunity as the Tigers cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 50-41 with 15:51 remaining.
“I probably called too many ball screens in the first half,” Pearl explained. “We did not execute our ball screen offense when they blitzed us. We did not do a good job on those short rolls, so we went to our post-up game more in the second half.
KD Johnson and Tre Donaldson were able to push Auburn closer with a pair of threes midway through the second half.
Johnson helped to carry Auburn in the second half as he scored 10 points on and made a layup off the fast break off of a steal which allowed Auburn to cut the game to 68-67 with 3:59 remaining.
As Johnson ended with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, it was a huge opportunity for him to gain confidence in his offensive game after making only 5-of-17 shots with 17 points in the last three contests.
“I am pleased that KD played better,” noted Pearl. “He has been patient. Tried not to turn it over, tried not to do too much. He did get in the gym a little extra this week and work on some things. It was good to have that impact.”
The Tigers had several late plays on offense where they would get and-one opportunities to tie the game but miss the free throws.
“I am proud of the kids for playing hard in a tough environment,” said Pearl. “We trust each other and I thought the togetherness on the bench was the best we have had this year.”
Green missed a game-tying three at the buzzer while Williams missed a triple that could have tied the game with 21 seconds remaining.
“We played better defense and we didn’t turn the ball over as much and didn’t foul as much,” Pearl noted. “Giving those guys eight offensive rebounds is pretty good.”