National Basketball Association
Auburn 73, Louisiana State 70
When: 3:30 PM ET, Friday, March 13, 2015
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Lee Cassell, # Tim Gattis, # Antinio Petty
Attendance:
18205
By SportsDirect Inc.
Auburn 73, LSU 70 (OT): KT Harrell matched his career high with 29 points, including the game-tying 3-pointer in the final second of regulation, as Auburn continued its Cinderella run in the SEC tournament with a comeback quarterfinal victory in Nashville, Tenn.
Harrell finished 5-of-11 from the field, including four 3-pointers, and hit 15-of-18 free throws for 13th-seeded Auburn (15-19), which has upset three higher seeds on consecutive days to set up a Saturday semifinal date with top-ranked and unbeaten Kentucky. Malcolm Canada added 14 points while Cinmeon Bowers had seven points and a team-high 10 rebounds for Auburn, which hit 7-of-16 triples and did not hold a lead until pulling ahead 66-64 just 1:15 into overtime.
Keith Hornsby had 24 points to pace fourth-seeded LSU (22-10), which was coming off a double-bye after winning four of five to close the regular season. The Tigers – who also received 18 points and a career high-matching 16 rebounds from Jarell Martin as well as 13 points from Jalyn Patterson – shot 35.8 percent from the field, missed 19-of-44 foul shots and got only one point and eight rebounds from second-leading scorer Jordan Mickey, who fouled out with 5:12 left in regulation.
LSU, which took a 28-24 advantage into the second half thanks to Hornsby’s 17 points in the opening 20 minutes, nudged its lead to 46-40, but Auburn scored eight of the next 10 points to tie it at 48 with 9:55 remaining. LSU owned a seven-point edge with 6:27 to play, but Auburn pulled within 62-61 on three Harrell free throws with 57.7 seconds left and following an LSU shot-clock violation, Canada had a layup attempt swatted away by Martin while Patterson drained a pair of free throws to set up Harrell’s game-tying 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 0.7 seconds to play.
Harrell opened the extra period with four free throws and Antoine Mason followed with a pair of buckets, including a fast-break dunk to put Auburn ahead 72-65. Patterson answered with a 3-pointer, Josh Gray followed with a layup and after K.C. Ross-Miller hit one of two free-throw attempts, LSU missed three 3-point attempts sandwiched around a pair of missed free throws by Harrell.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Auburn F Jordon Granger was assessed a Flagrant-2 foul for throwing a punch and was ejected with 13:48 remaining in regulation. He finished with eight points and five rebounds. … Auburn advanced to the SEC tournament semifinals for the first time since 2009. …Harrell has 73 points in Auburn’s three tourney wins, including a 31-of-39 performance from the free-throw line.
Top Game Performances
Auburn |
|
Louisiana State |
KT Harrell 29 |
Scoring |
Keith Hornsby 24 |
K.C. Ross-Miller 5 |
Assists |
Jalyn Patterson 3 |
Cinmeon Bowers 10 |
Rebounds |
Jarell Martin 16 |
KT Harrell 15 |
Free Throws Made |
Jarell Martin 8 |
KT Harrell 2 |
Steals |
Jalyn Patterson 2 |
Malcolm Canada 2 |
Blocks |
Darcy Malone 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Auburn
|
73 |
37.5 |
7-16 |
24-36 |
12 |
35 |
2 |
7 |
12 |
Louisiana State
|
70 |
35.8 |
7-17 |
25-44 |
11 |
40 |
8 |
5 |
17 |