Tigers take down Tide

AUBURN | A sprained ankle couldn’t slow down Kareem Canty Tuesday night.

Auburn’s junior guard scored 25 points to lead the Tigers to an 83-77 win over Alabama at the Auburn Arena.

Cinmeon Bowers added 20 points and 18 rebounds for Auburn, which improved to 9-8 overall and 3-3 in the SEC

"I thought Bowers was the 6-7 gorilla out there that was just a man. Inside and out, he just played terrifically," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "Kareem was just Kareem doing what he does. Those guys just kind of put us on their shoulders."

Canty shot 7-of-11 from the floor including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. He added two rebounds and three assists. His performance comes three days after his ankle late in a 75-70 win over No. 14 Kentucky.

Canty wore a boot for a couple of days and was limited at Monday's practice.

"He’s such a competitor. Looking at him, you would never know," said TJ Lang, who had 11 points. "It motivates us. If he’s out there with a bum ankle and he’s leading us, that just gives us more motivation to give our everything."

Bowers notched his eighth double-double of the season and 22nd in his two years at Auburn. He's started Auburn's last two games after coming off the bench for seven straight.

"He’s been really locked in, really focused," Pearl said. "He understood why he got out of the starting lineup and he understands why he’s back in it.

"He’s played at power forward the last three or four games. Having him out there at power forward, he’s got a good matchup out there because he can do things on the perimeter. He’s in a good place right now. I think having that one position is serving him well."

The game included 53 total fouls. Auburn’s Tyler Harris fouled out late in the second half with 14 points and three rebounds. Alabama's Jimmie Taylor, Arthur Edwards and Michael Kessens also fouled out in the second half.

Alabama, which falls to 10-7 and 1-4 in the conference, was led by Retin Obasohan's 27 points.

"They called it close consistently and we were running out of guys that could even think about rotating on Obasohan," Pearl said. "It’s a nightmare to keep Obasohan out of the lane and the way they can stretch you with the three-ball."

It's Auburn second-straight home SEC win in front of a sellout crowd.

"This is as good an environment as there is in college basketball," Pearl said. "Who wouldn’t want to play in that game in front of that intensity? It elevated our play.

"For Auburn, this is important. It’s a great rivalry game. It matters to the Auburn family that we are able to be competitive in this rivalry. So we did what we had to do and now we move forward."

Auburn returns to action Saturday at Florida. Tip-off on the SEC Network is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.