Sports

Auburn Holds On To Beat Texas Tech 67-65

November 23, 2016 / 5:25 AM CST / CBS Texas

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CANCUN, Mexico (AP) - LeRon Smith made a crucial observation and followed it with a confident prediction sitting among his teammates on the bench Tuesday night.

The Auburn forward watched again and again as Texas Tech's Aaron Ross drove into the paint, hollered for the ball and hopped for easy layups. He watched as his team's lead got smaller and smaller, too.

"I was sitting on the bench, I asked, `Why doesn't someone just block his shot?"' Smith said. "I said, `There's no way I'm going to let him get that layup."'

Smith came up with the block, swatting Ross's potential tying layup with four seconds left out to Texas Tech's Zach Smith, who sailed a 3-pointer over the basket at the buzzer, and the Tigers held on for a 67-65 win in the Cancun Challenge.

Mustapha Heron scored 15 points, Daniel Purifoy added 11 and Jared Harper netted 10 for Auburn (4-0), which led by 15 points with 11:15 left.

Aaron Ross led the Red Raiders (3-1) with 17 points, Keenan Evans had 13 and Devon Thomas and Smith added 11 and 10, respectively. Smith grabbed 10 rebounds.

"Texas Tech is an NCAA tournament-caliber team," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "They're going to have a really good year. They didn't didn't get off to a very good start in either half and we did. I thought we played really good basketball in the first half."

It was all Tigers at halftime. They led by 15 and dominated from midrange and added five 3-pointers. But the Red Raiders began to chip away and turned the rebounding battle in the second half, pulling down 20 to Auburn's 11.

Meanwhile, the Auburn offense went cold. Dunas snapped 4:18 skid without a field goal with a steal and fast-break layup to make it 65-59 with 1:18 to play.

It didn't slow the Red Raiders, who continued a 28-15 run that ended when Thomas hit a layup with 32 seconds left to cut Auburn's lead to 65-63. But the Tigers got free throws from Harper, who was 6 for 10 from the line but hit two in the final 25 seconds to keep the game out of reach.

THE BIG PICTURE
Auburn: The Tigers are 4-0 for the first time since 2011-12 and four underclassmen are helping them get it done. Bryce Brown, Jared Harper and Daniel Purifoy entered the game averaging in double figures and all chipped in equally against the Tigers. Auburn will try to win its fifth straight for the first time since 2004-05 on Tuesday.

Texas Tech: Although they couldn't take the lead late, the Red Raiders, on their fourth head coach in six years, were able to keep the game within range. They did so with some explosive plays, including Zach Smith's furious slam dunk that cut Auburn's lead to 53-45 with 7:52 left.

PROTECTING THE RIM
Maybe assistant coach Chuck Perkins overheard Smith as he noticed Ross cutting free to the basket?

Pearl said Perkins suggested they put Smith in the game late. He had played just over 12 minutes to that point.

"Coach Persons suggested that I put LaRon in and I went with it, and it was a great call," Pearl said. "Because LaRon is our best rim protector. . LaRon had some rebound baskets, he had some offensive rebounds and he was our best rim-protector at a very, very big time."

LEARNING AND WINNING
Heron did plenty on the offensive side. Pearl noted the game began to shift as the true freshman got deeper into foul trouble. Heron picked up his third early in the second half and Texas Tech took advantage, getting inside the defense to sink 18 points in the paint over the final 20 minutes.

"The rebounding thing, it really swung in the second half. It energized them," Pearl said. "I thought we stopped guarding in the second half. . He's got to continue to guard and that, I think opened the door a little bit to Texas Tech's run."

UP NEXT
Both teams continue in the Cancun Challenge tomorrow.

Texas Tech