Lewis, Alabama hand No. 4 Auburn its first loss, 83-64

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Kira Lewis Jr. scored 25 points and Alabama handed No. 4 Auburn its first loss of the season with an 83-64 rout on Wednesday night.

The Crimson Tide (9-7, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) led wire-to-wire over their in-state rival. The Tigers (15-1, 3-1) had a miserable shooting night and left No. 7 San Diego State (18-0) as the nation’s last unbeaten team.

It was the Tide’s first win over a Top 5 team since a 79-57 home defeat of then-No. 5 Texas A&M on Dec. 30, 2017. This one was largely one-sided, too.

Lewis scored 17 points in the second half for Alabama. He was 8 of 14 from the field and made 8 of 9 free throws.

Herbert Jones had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Alex Reese scored 13 points and James Bolden had 11 for the Tide.

It was a season low in points for Auburn, which had won 27 of 28 games dating back to last season’s Final Four run.

Isaac Okoro led the Tigers with 13 points. Austin Wiley had 10 points and 13 rebounds and Jamal Johnson also scored 10.

Auburn closed within 50-47 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Johnson midway through the second half, but the comeback attempt fizzled from there.

BIG PICTURE

Auburn: Missed its first 10 3-point attempts and finished making just 20 of 63 shots (31.7%). The Tigers shot 25% from 3-point range (7 of 28) and made 17 of 30 foul shots.

Alabama: Has won seven of its last 10 games after starting 0-2 against ranked teams. The Tide gave the fans a huge reason to cheer in coach Nate Oats’ first season.

SAMIR STRUGGLES

Auburn’s leading scorer, Samir Doughty, failed to score for nearly the first 23 minutes and wound up fouling out. He missed his first seven shots with six turnovers before hitting a basket with 17:10 left. Doughty finished with six points, 10 below his average, on 2-of-11 shooting.

FOUL FESTIVAL

The teams were whistled for a combined 54 fouls. Auburn’s Doughty and point guard J’Von McCormick both fouled out. Alabama made them pay with a 29-of-37 foul shooting performance.

UP NEXT

Auburn visits Florida, which has won three of its first four SEC games, on Saturday.

Alabama hosts Missouri on Saturday.