No. 3 Auburn Romps Alabama

When a team gives No. 3 Auburn an incentive to win, it better look out.

Under the impression Alabama center Jeremy Hays had guaranteed that Alabama would win Saturday's game, the Tigers romped to a 41-12 lead en route to a 102-61 victory over the Crimson Tide on Saturday, clinching their first Southeastern Conference West title.

"Jeremy Hays was talking a bunch of noise about the game and the younger guys and the older guys were very offended by what he said, that he would guarantee a win," Auburn forward Bryant Smith said. "That lit a fire in us."

The win marked the first season sweep of Alabama by Auburn ( 24-1, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) since the 1983-84 season.

With two minutes left in the game, the rowdy Auburn crowd began chanting "SEC! SEC!" and the bench players, wearing SEC West Championship T-shirts, waived towels in the air in celebration of the Tigers' first divisional title since the league split in 1991.

"You can't find the words to print how magical and special this is," said Auburn coach Cliff Ellis, who also donned a T-shirt. "Savor it, that's what I've told the kids to do."

Hays, who was taunted throughout the entire game by fans waiving printed sheets of his alleged guarantee, said he was misquoted.

"I would never make a quote like that, I just want to clear my name on that," Hays said. "What I said was that Auburn was beatable. I am not the type of player who would guarantee a win."

He led Alabama with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Doc Robinson scored a career-high 25 points and had seven assists and only two turnovers in 28 minutes of play for Auburn.

"We were aggressive in the first five minutes, we really wanted to play mind games with them," Robinson said. "Then I got into a groove early, was getting a lot of good looks and knocking the shots down."

The game resembled las year's meeting at Auburn, where the Tigers handed Alabama its worst loss in school history, 94-40.

"Last year was the perfect game. Today was almost perfect, but not quite," Ellis said. "You're seeing something very special."

The Tide never had a chance.

Alabama (14-12, 4-9) turned the ball over 10 times before it made its first basket, a jumper by MC Mazique that made it 18-6 with 13:38 to play.

At that point, the Tide were 1-for-4 from the floor and baffled by Auburn's relentless pressure and the frantic pace of the game.

"They are a team that can put some numbers up on you in a hurry," Gottfried said. "They are playing with such a confidence level, it's hard to slow them down."

From there, Auburn kept hitting and things kept getting worse for the Tide. The Tigers led 41-12 with 5:58 to play in the first half.

Alabama made only seven baskets in the first half and had 20 turnovers. Auburn, on the other hand, had four players in double figures before the break. The Tigers shot 58 percent in the first half, had seven of their 10 steals and a 58-23 halftime lead.

"The story today was not Alabama, it was Auburn," Gottfried said. "That first 20 minutes was one of the best 20 minutes of basketball I have ever been associated with."

Chris Rollins scored 13 points and Alabama leading scorer Brian Williams, who missed the Tide's last two games with a nagging ankle injury, came off the bench to score nine in a 2-for-5 shooting night.

"Brian is not 100 percent," Gottfried said. "I thought we should hold him for next week, but he wanted to play so badly."

Chris Porter and Scott Pohlman both had 16 points and Smith scored 13.

© 1998 CBS SportsLine USA, Inc. All rights reserved