Some recent Alabama basketball teams would have laid down at 16 for Auburn and zero for the Tide. Not Nate Oats’ first Crimson Tide team. There is no quit in this bunch. Sometimes, there is not enough defense in them either. Auburn owned the paint Wednesday night. The Tigers scored 44 points in the paint, many of them on direct drives to the rim. The Tigers also out-rebounded the Tide, 60-44.
The other result of forcing the basketball into the paint was three Tide players fouled out. Auburn also shot 23 more free throws than did the Tide, giving them plus-17 points at the line.