Barbee: ‘It all falls on me’ as Tigers lose tenth straight, 16 of 17 in opening-round exit from SEC Tournament

Auburn players walk off the court after Wednesday’s 71-62 loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament.
Credit: Todd Van Emst

NASHVILLE — For a team with so little going its way over the past two months, Auburn could have folded up long ago. The Tigers fought in several close games at the end of the season and Wednesday’s SEC Tournament game was no different.

But you don’t get credit for stick-to-itiveness, not in the box score anyway, and the result was the same yet again. Frankie Sullivan scored 19 points and Chris Denson added 15 points as No. 14 Auburn dropped its 10th straight and 16 of 17, losing to No. 11 Texas A&M, 71-62, in the opening round of the SEC Tournament Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena. Auburn (9-23) concluded a disastrous 2013 season with the worst single-season stretch in program history and the longest losing streak since 1989, Sonny Smith’s final season.

The last time Auburn lost 16 of 17 games was Jan. 23, 1943 through Feb. 12, 1945 – there was no team in 1943-44. The Tigers’.281 win percentage is its worst since going 6-20 (.231) in 1973 which was coach Bill Lynn’s last season.

“I’m the coach of the program and I’m the leader of the ship and it all falls on me,” said Auburn coach Tony Barbee, who is under contract through 2017 for $1.5 million annually with a buyout of $750,000 per each remaining season, or more than $3 million as of today. “I took full responsibility in front of those guys where this season went and challenged them like I told them I’m going challenge myself.

“We all got to get better so we can come back next year and make sure next year doesn’t go the way this year went.”

Barbee falls to 35-59 overall in three seasons at Auburn, already having notched the worst three-year SEC record ever for the program (12-38).

After falling behind by seven early in the second, Auburn closed the gap midway through on a great defensive play by Denson, who stole the ball from A&M’s J’Mychal Reese and went coast-to-coast, converting a three-point play to tie the game at 47 with 11:17 to go. Yet Auburn was unable to ever gain the lead in the second half.

“When I got the and-1, I thought we were going to take the game,” said Denson, who went 4-for-9 from the floor.

Elston Turner scored 22 points with a broken left pinky for Texas A&M (18-14). Ray Turner missed a doorstep layup to make it a seven-point game with 2:31 to go but redeemed himself on the defensive end, stuffing Asauhn Dixon-Tatum (five points) just 11 seconds later.

Alex Caruso scored 14 points, including a pivotal jam off of a fake out on the left side which made it 54-49 with 7:10 to go. The Tigers were unable to close the gap to one possession after that slam.

Kourtney Roberson had 11 and Fabyon Harrias added 10 for the Aggies, who advance to play No. 6 Missouri tonight at 9 p.m.

The teams began the game at a frantic pace with Auburn taking a 13-10 lead in the in the first 3:45. The Aggies responded with a 14-0 run while the Tigers were scoreless for the next 6:16.

Texas A&M built a 34-21 lead with 1:35 to go but Auburn closed the first half on a 6-0 run to make it 34-27 at halftime. The Aggies had a 36-24 advantage on the glass including six to zero in offensive rebounds during the first half.

“I told the guys I was disappointed about the rebounds at halftime,” Barbee said. “It was the number one key for the game. … That would be the number one priority. Disappointed in the rebound number given that it was the number one key for the game.”

Notes:

Seniors Josh Wallace scored eights points to go with four rebounds and four assists, Noel Johnson had three points and Rob Chubb added two points in their final games for Auburn … Sullivan finished his career with 1,556 points, which is eighth on Auburn’s career scoring list