Barbee, Tigers search for consistency heading to Alabama

Photo credit: Lauren Barnard/Auburn athletics

AUBURN — The defense was fierce and the battles were intense when Auburn hosted Alabama on Feb. 6. With the assistance of Cam Newton leading a rabid and raucous student section into a frenzy, the Tigers pulled off a 13-point comeback and won 49-37 in a game few will remember for its offensive beauty – the teams combined to shoot just over 31 percent.

The rivals have gone in opposite directions since. Auburn (9-18, 3-11 Southeastern Conference) has lost five straight and 11 of 12, the worst 12-game stretch for the program since 1988-89, while Alabama (18-9, 10-4 SEC) won four straight before falling in double overtime to LSU on Saturday.

“We were locked in and we were engaged, specifically off the ball, for 40 minutes and it gave us a chance to win that game but we haven’t done that since,” Auburn coach Tony Barbee said. “We’ve been really inconsistent on the defensive end of the floor possession to possession and half to half.

“They’re probably a little different from when we played them a couple of weeks ago and obviously we’re a little different and not in a good way.”

In the 20 days and five games since defeating their rivals for the first time under Barbee the Tigers have gone into a nose dive, suffering the worst home loss in 61 years at the hands of then No. 7 Florida (83-52) and an 88-55 blowout loss at Ole Miss which was the worst in seven years and worst ever to the Rebels in the 127-game history of the series.

Leading scorer Frankie Sullivan (14.7 points) came off the bench for two games after making 36 straight starts, leading rebounder Rob Chubb came off the bench Saturday and broke a streak of 57 straight starts, younger players are in and out of the lineup and substitutions have been going at a beyond rapid pace. Barbee called into question his team’s mental toughness.

“We’re getting off to fairly decent starts in games, then something happens during the course of a game where it seems like we fall apart for whatever reason. I have no idea what that is,” he said. “We’ll stop defending, we’ll stop executing, easy shots, layups, free throws, post-ups, jumpers, wide open and don’t go down. Then we let that adversity spill into the next thing. Then it’s hard to get them to refocus when it starts to go bad, or goes the wrong way.”

With four games left in the regular season and at least one in the SEC Tournament, the attention begun to shift to the future and developing the younger players on the team.

“We’re talking to them about the culture of what this is about. Whether you win or lose, it’s how hard you compete and how hard you fight and how you have to go that together,” Barbee said. “That’s what I want to see from the guys who will be returning. With the seniors, I want to see them continue to fight. They’ve got only five guaranteed games before their college career ends. I keep talking to them about: How do they want to go out? How do they want to be remembered here.”

One recipient of increased minutes is freshman guard Brian Greene Jr. His playing time has been erratic but Greene Jr. played 17 minutes and scored eight points at Ole Miss Saturday.

“I’m just happy with the opportunity I have to get on the floor,” he said. “I’m a freshman in the SEC so coming in I knew it was going to be tough and I knew it was going to be a lot of up and downs in my freshman year.”

Sullivan has led Auburn in scoring in 12 games but has scored in single-figures in five of the last six. He is keeping his disappointing senior season in perspective.

“The only thing we can do right now is just win these couple of games and hopefully get a little roll in the SEC. But sometimes, you’ve got to face the facts of what’s reality,” Sullivan said. “These young guys still need a positive feeling coming into next year. You want to at least go out with them having a great taste in their mouth about this season.”

An opportunity to derail Alabama’s postseason hopes is something the Tigers can hang their hat on tonight. The last an NCAA Tournament at-large bid lost at home to Auburn was 1999 when the Tigers defeated both UAB and Ole Miss.

“Spoiling anything for those guys is good,” Sullivan said. “You don’t want to mess up anybody’s career up, but when it comes to those guys, you try to spoil it.”