National Basketball Association
Auburn 63, South Carolina 52
When: 1:47 PM ET, Saturday, January 21, 2012
Where: Auburn Arena, Auburn, Alabama
Officials:
# Tracy Woodson, # Bruce Benedict, # Ted Valentine
Attendance:
8329
By SportsDirect Inc.
Frankie Sullivan scored a game-high 22 points and Kenny Gabriel added 16, as Auburn surpassed last season's win total and ended a streak of four straight home losses to South Carolina with a 63-52 win in a Southeastern Conference contest Saturday at Auburn Arena.
The Tigers (12-7, 2-3 SEC) continued to show improvement in coach Tony Barbee's second season. They trailed 28-24 at halftime but took the lead for good on Chris Denson's 3-pointer with 14:03 left and eased away from there.
Sullivan has averaged 20 points over the past three games after averaging 5.7 points in the previous six contests.
The Gamecocks (8-10, 0-4 SEC) had won three of the past four meetings and five of the past eight, but they were too sloppy to stay in this one. South Carolina committed 23 turnovers -- its second most this season behind its 25 against North Carolina -- in dropping to 0-4 in SEC play for the first time since 2006-07.
Auburn's win bucked a recent trend of the road team dominating the series. The visiting team had won eight of the previous nine meetings.
Top Game Performances
South Carolina |
|
Auburn |
Bruce Ellington 9 |
Scoring |
Frankie Sullivan 22 |
Bruce Ellington 4 |
Assists |
Rob Chubb 3 |
Damontre Harris 7 |
Rebounds |
Rob Chubb 7 |
Malik Cooke 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Frankie Sullivan 6 |
Bruce Ellington 2 |
Steals |
Allen Payne 3 |
Damontre Harris 6 |
Blocks |
Kenny Gabriel 4 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
South Carolina
|
52 |
40.8 |
6-18 |
6-8 |
8 |
24 |
7 |
10 |
23 |
Auburn
|
63 |
44.0 |
7-18 |
12-18 |
14 |
27 |
6 |
7 |
14 |