A week after an embarrassing loss to West Virginia on national television, the Auburn men’s basketball team looked poised Saturday night in a 71-63 victory over Southern University (1-7) in the Coor’s Classic in Mobile. Junior Quan Prowell, who served a five-game suspension to start the season, looked absolutely dreadful against the Mountaineers on Dec. 5 in Birmingham. On Saturday, Prowell played like the veteran coach Lebo and the Tigers expect. Prowell scored early and often, making 8-of-10 shots from the floor and connecting on four three-pointers. With four minutes to play, Prowell fouled out of the game with 21 points and six rebounds.
“I thought Quan Prowell was aggressive and when he fouled out, I was a little concerned,” said coach Lebo.
Lebo turned to his veterans who stepped up in a big way. Junior Rasheem Barrett caught fire from the field, pouring in 18 points and adding 10 rebounds. 
“He did a good job rebounding the ball for us defensively,” Lebo said. “He had an all-round good game.” Forward Korvotney Barber, who leads the nation in field goal percentage, continued to be red hot as he made 7-of-9 field goals for 15 points and seven rebounds. Auburn had a comfortable lead 61-48 with seven minutes to play, but Jazz Williams and the Jaguars mustered a late rally to pull within three points at 66-63 with just 56 seconds to play in the game. The Tigers’ defense would take over, holding the Jaguars scoreless in the final 56 seconds of play. DeWayne Reed sealed the victory with a basket in the final seconds, improving Auburn’s record to 5-2. The win was a nice confident booster for the Tigers after such an abysmal loss last week. Prowell really seemed to settle into the offense and shake off some of the rust from a long off season.
Shorthanded and under-sized, the Tigers have to continue to win games at the free throw line and by being physical on the offensive/defensive boards. The Tigers return to play at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against the Mercer Bears (5-5). Don’t be fooled by the Bears’ record. They traveled to Los Angeles to play USC and came away with a blowout victory over the Trojans and pushed Alabama to the brink. Look for it to be a close, physical game. 
The Auburn women’s basketball team traveled to College Station, Texas to take on the No. 12 ranked Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday. The Lady Tigers staged a late second half comeback but their efforts fell short as they lost their first game of the season 62-60. Takia Starks led the Aggies with 17 points. Texas A&M jumped ahead early and took a 39-28 lead into halftime. With less than a minute to go, the Lady Tigers cut the lead to two points, at 60-58, and began fouling to get possession of the ball back. A’Quonesia Franklin sank two critical free throws to give the Aggies a 62-58 lead with under 30 seconds left in the game. Whitney Boddie scored the final basket for Auburn with four seconds to play. Boddie, who scored 12 points, was one of four Auburn players in double figures. Jordan Greenleaf led the Lady Tigers with 13 points and nine rebounds. The loss dropped the Tigers’ record to 9-1 on the season. Though it was a tough loss for the Tigers, the game showed the toughness and the determination of Nell Fortner’s team. The women will continue their tour of Texas on Monday night, as they played at Stephen F. Austin (3-5) at 7 p.m., and then again on Wednesday as they travel to Sam Houston State (1-9). Visit thecornernews.com for updates of those games.