Auburn Basketball

Despite guard Chris Denson being welcomed back to the team for Wednesday night's trip to Tuscaloosa, Auburn still fell to arch-rival Alabama 55-49, marking the Tigers' fifth-straight loss to the Crimson Tide.

Auburn entered the game shorthanded, with guard Varez Ward suspended indefinitely and forwards Allen Payne and Josh Langford both injured, most likely for the season.

However, when the buzzer sounded in the second half, Tigers fans could use the same lines they've got to use all year.

"At least we were competitive."

"The team played hard."

"We don't have much depth."

The loss means Auburn will not win a conference road game this season, but provided another opportunity to be so close, and yet, so far from winning.

In the defensive battle, the Tigers only had one player finish with double digits points. Kenny Gabriel had 10, despite going scoreless in the first half. Gabriel also had 11 rebounds to complete the double-double.

Frankie Sullivan also went scoreless in the first half before scoring nine in the second half.

Forward Noel Johnson, who started in place of Payne, and Denson also scored nine points.

However, the tale of Auburn's loss was the same that has been told all year.

Rebounding and foul shots played the role of sinking Auburn's ship.

Alabama out-rebounded the Tigers 39-31, including nine on the offensive side of the ball.

Center Rob Chubb was boxed out most of the night, especially toward the end of the game when Auburn was down by one or two scores.

Playing without its Ward, Auburn's best free-throw shooter, the Tigers shot an embarrassing 41.7 percent from the foul line.

Auburn went 1-for-7 free throw shooting to start off, before hitting four in a row to finish 5-for-12. 

With LSU coming to the Plains Saturday for a 1 p.m. (CST) tip-off, Auburn will try to finish the regular season strong.

For fans looking for optimism, the Tigers have only experienced three home loses in 16 games, which is the third best in the SEC.

The game will be televised on CBS. It will also be Senior Day for Gabriel, guard Tony Neysmith and guards Jake Drum and Adrian Forbes.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Auburn may be without three of its primary basketball players for the remainder of the season.

Following the indefinite suspensions of guards Varez Ward and Chris Denson prior to Saturday's game against Arkansas, forward Allen Payne underwent a successful surgery Tuesday afternoon, but said via Twitter he will miss the remainder of the season.

Payne, who had been starting for injured forward Josh Langford the past eight games, played a huge role in Auburn's game Saturday against Arkansas. The sophomore scored 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds in 29 minutes of play.

After the Arkansas loss, Barbee simply said Ward and Denson, who were not at the game, violated team rules, without clarifying what those violations included. He also said they will not return until he sees fit.

Barbee did say both Ward and Denson did not practice Monday, and if that's the case, their chances for playing on Wednesday seem slim.

Ward, who transferred from Texas and sat out last season, is averaging 9.0 points, 3.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game at point guard. He has also started a majority of the season.

Denson is averaging 8.5 points per game, playing in every game this year.

The suspensions are Auburn's second of the season, with guard Tony Neysmith and Langford missing games at the beginning of the season for similar violations.

The suspensions take away a substantial amount of depth for the Tigers.

Neysmith will now get more playing time backing up point guard Josh Wallace.

Denson's suspension will cause guard Frankie Sullivan to play extended minutes.

With two games left in the season, the chances of Auburn (14-14, 4-10 SEC) topping last season's SEC record is slightly diminished, but not completely ruined, but the road is certainly going to be a fierce one.

The Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa Wednesday to face Alabama (19-9, 8-6 SEC). Barbee said he will decide prior to the trip Tuesday if Ward and Denson will return for the game.

The game will be featured on ESPN3 with tip-off set for 7 p.m. (CST). Auburn hosts LSU (17-11, 7-7 SEC) Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST) in its final regular season game of the year.

Anyone who has had a chance to see Auburn play this year is fully aware of what forward Kenny Gabriel is capable of doing.

The high-flying senior has recorded dunk after dunk throughout the season.

Gabriel isn't the first Tiger capable of amazing dunks, however.

Auburn fans easily remember Chris Porter's amazing slams during the 1990-2000 season. And no one can forget about Doc Robinson's half-court alley-oop to Bryant Smith that same year.

Granted that was a different time for the program. Auburn was in the national limelight that season.

While Gabriel has not been given much national attention other than making SportsCenter's Top 10 once, he has continued to attribute highlights that will be seen by scouts of the next level.

Recently, Auburn's official athletic site has asked fans to vote for your favorite Gabriel dunk of the season.

Each dunk brings a different trait to the table, but all played a big role in the game in which they happened.

After falling to 13-11 (3-7 SEC) following Tuesday night's lost to Alabama, which was the worst home lose to the Crimson Tide in history, Auburn fans still have Gabriel's highlight-reel moves to look forward to for at least seven more games.

The Tigers return to action Saturday, traveling to Ole Miss. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on FSN.

A lot of people like to call it the "Iron Bowl of Basketball."

However, to put it simply, it's not. It's a game that's somehow more intense and physical. Not to mention, it was never played in Birmingham.

Auburn (13-10, 3-6 SEC) heads into tonight's game against the Crimson Tide (15-7, 4-4 SEC) having won six of the last 10 meetings, despite being swept last year.

In fact, the Tigers have never beaten Alabama in Auburn Arena. Granted, they are 0-1.

The suspension of Alabama forward Tony Mitchell plays a huge factor in the game. Mitchell averages 13.1 points and 7 rebounds a game.

The suspension could be up a substantial lift for the Tigers, who are coming off a 91-88 loss to No. 18 Mississippi State.

There are several keys that will lead to Auburn winning Tuesday night.

After being injured against Arkansas, guard Varez Ward has scored 20-plus points in the last three games off the bench.

Ward has picked up the slack where guard Frankie Sullivan has slumped.

However, after scoring 16 against Mississippi State Saturday, Sullivan may come out shooting well against Alabama as well.

Alabama has another player to be concerned with: forward Kenny Gabriel.

In the past three games, Gabriel has averaged 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

Within the last seven days, Auburn has proven it can be a competitive team in the SEC in different ways.

Last Wednesday, Auburn closed a game strong, defeating Georgia 59-51. That had been a problem for most of its SEC play.

Saturday, Auburn played Mississippi State down to the final minutes of the game on the road.

While the Tigers have yet to win an SEC game, it showed the improvements Auburn has made this season.

A win against Alabama would send Auburn to Ole Miss Saturday with the momentum to achieve more wins in the SEC this year than last year.

Tonight's game tips off at 8 p.m. (CST) and can be viewed on the ESPNU.

Auburn's one consistency this season is inconsistency, and it has shown bright in the Tigers' first three SEC games.

After an embarrassing 65-35 loss at Vanderbilt, which featured the lowest amount of points Auburn has scored since the 1950s, head coach Tony Barbee's squad turned around and battled No. 2 Kentucky for 35 minutes.

If Kentucky would have beaten Auburn (11-6, 1-2 SEC) by 40 points, the Tigers would have been outscored by a combined 100 points in its last three games.

Instead, the Tigers almost shocked the college basketball world.

While the 68-53 final looks lopsided, Auburn played the Wildcats competitively and easily played its best game of the season. If anyone wasn't convinced, statistics proved it.

Auburn had a better shooting percentage (41.2-40.4 percent) and more rebounds (35-29).

Center Rob Chubb, who played against Anthony Davis, one of the nation's top centers, scored a team-high 14 points and pulled in a team-high eight rebounds.

Despite the loss, a majority of the Auburn Family was still happy with the team's effort and play.

Then, a lot of that momentum was lost Saturday was Auburn hosted Ole Miss.

Positives? Auburn won 69-68 in double overtime. Auburn also shot better than Ole Miss in every category, despite only shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 64.3 percent of shots from the foul line.

Negatives? Ole Miss had 49 rebounds to Auburn's 39.

In fact, Chubb fouled out with eight points and zero rebounds.

The difference from the Kentucky game was like night and day. That inconsistency has become an unofficial theme to the season.

With inconsistency being so popular, guard Frankie Sullivan is the coolest kid in school.

While Sullivan still averages the most points per game on the team for the season, he only averages 8.7 points per SEC game, which ranks him second behind guard Chris Denson, who currently starts over Sullivan.

Sullivan scored only two points against Vanderbilt and five against Kentucky.

After going into the half without scoring against Ole Miss, it appeared his slump had continued.

However, in the second half, Sullivan caught fire. He finished the game with a team-high 19 points, shooting 66 percent from the field and 40 percent beyond the arc.

For Auburn to continue to win, Sullivan must be able to shoot effectively, even if it is off the bench.

Again, statistics prove the logic.

Since Sullivan's knee injury last season, the Tigers have gone 10-1 in games he's reached double-digit points. Auburn is 5-7 in games which he did not.

As Auburn travels to LSU tonight looking to get its SEC record back to .500, the Tigers are two blocked shots away from tying last year's mark of 100.

The game is set for 7 p.m. (EST) and will be aired on ESPNU.