AUBURN, Ala. — Earlier this week, Nate Oats compared Auburn’s Neville Arena to the intensely packed high school gyms he used to coach in at the beginning of his career. Wednesday, Auburn forwards Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams played the role of school-yard bullies, dominating Alabama down low en route to a 99-81 victory over the Crimson Tide.
Broome and Williams combined for 50 points and 14 rebounds on 15 of 29 (51.7%) shooting as No. 12 Auburn outscored No. 16 Alabama 40-26 in the paint. The Tigers also won the rebounding battle 42-35 and had a 24-12 advantage in second-chance points.
Alabama shot itself in the foot with 15 turnovers which led to 22 Auburn points. Meanwhile, the Tigers gave the ball away just five times, resulting in 10 points the other way. According to Oats, Alabama’s coaching staff charted Auburn with 96.5 blue-collar points while the Crimson Tide mustered up just 71.5.
“They were better than us,” Oats said of Auburn following the game. “They played harder. They outrebounded us. They were up on the glass all night. They took advantage of our smaller lineup inside. They turned us over, we didn’t turn them over. A lot of the effort stats we look at, rebounds, turnovers, they were better than us.”
The Alabama small-ball lineup that had been running past opponents in recent games hit a brick wall against Auburn’s bigs. The Crimson Tide made just 12 of its 29 layup attempts while allowing the Tigers to rack up 12 blocks on the night. Broome had five of those while Williams chipped in a pair.
After scoring 17 points off the bench during Alabama’s 79-75 win over Auburn last month, Rylan Griffen got the start for the Crimson Tide on Wednesday. As it has in recent games, the Tide’s starting lineup featured Grant Nelson at the center position while Griffen played in a four-guard lineup alongside Mark Sears, Aaron Estrada and Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
The move backfired as Alabama was unable to take advantage of its extra skill players, shooting just 9 of 26 from 3 while failing to protect the ball.
Matters were made worse when Auburn had the ball. Along with using its size advantage to rack up easy buckets, the Tigers preyed on an undisciplined Tide defense, drawing 32 fouls while making 40 of 50 free-throw attempts. Broome finished the game 9 of 11 from the line en route to 24 points while Williams made 9 of 10 free throws while scoring 26 points.
Following the game, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said he was surprised with Oats’ decision to start Ryan Griffen at the “4” position, stating that while it makes Alabama better offensively, it takes away from the Tide’s defense.
“The inside game is not a factor in the NBA anymore,” Pearl said. “It still is in college basketball.”
Alabama has had trouble guarding elite frontcourts all season, dropping three straight games to Purdue, Creighton and Arizona in December. When asked about the struggles following the loss to Auburn, Oats admitted “it’s an issue,” while stating his team will have to be more disciplined down low moving forward.
Fortunately for Alabama, it won’t have to deal with another frontcourt quite as potent as Broome and Williams for the remainder of the SEC schedule. Still, the Tide will have to bounce back quickly from Wednesday night’s black eye if it wants to avoid being bullied at LSU this weekend.
