Auburn takes ‘a huge step back,’ falls to Winthrop

AUBURN — Jordan Price entered Saturday night’s game with an SEC-record tying 11 straight 3-pointers and the Tigers held their last three opponents to 10-for-58 (17.24 percent) shooting from three-point range. Neither trend continued as Price missed both of three-point attempts and Auburn lacked defensive intensity across the board as the Tigers fell to Winthrop 74-67 at Auburn Arena.

Frankie Sullivan scored a game-high 22 points to go with six rebounds and five assists and Chris Denson added 18 points and five rebounds for Auburn (5-6) which drops below .500 again.

“Obviously we weren’t thinking about winning because we weren’t defending because they shot 50 percent from the floor,” Auburn coach Tony Barbee said. “It is really disappointing. It is a huge step back, a huge step back. It was a lack of maturity. It was a lack of leadership.”

Christian Farmer scored 14 of his 15 points in the second half thanks to 4-for-7 shooting from behind-the-arc and Joab Jerome added 16 points for Winthrop (5-5). Farmer made all of his three-pointers, one of which was part of a rare four-point play, during a 20-4 run in the second half to give Winthrop a commanding 59-43 lead with 9:54 to go.

“Chris Farmer got loose. He made some unbelievable threes,” Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey said. “74 points is a lot for us.”

Price (six points) did not attempt a shot in the first half and missed his first three-point attempt, an open look from the right wing which hit off the iron with 14:54 to go. His streak of 11 straight 3-pointers tied an SEC record with Vanderbilt’s Kevin Anglin in 1992 and ends four shy of the NCAA Division I record of 15 by Northwestern’s Todd Leslie in 1990.

“We were very, very, very aware of Jordan,” Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey said.

Price was called with a flagrant foul for an elbow to the face of Jerome with 7:13 to go.

Auburn cut it to 70-67 with 28 seconds to go but it was too little too late.