In spite of a double double from freshman Omar Carter (Charlotte, N.C.), who scored 16 and pulled down 12 rebounds Monday night, the Bucs fell 89-59 to 3-1 Auburn in a non-conference showdown at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The Bucs started and finished the first half brightly, as they would quickly run out to a 5-0 lead thanks to a three-point play from Giedrius Knysas (Vilnius, Lithuania) and a jumper from freshman Jamarco Warren (Gainesville, Ga.). A 10-2 Buc run then capped the half. The run was largely the product of strong CSU offensive rebounding, as the Bucs pulled down no less than 15 offensive boards in the first half, including four each from the freshman Carter and Knysas.
In between these runs, however, Auburn dominated, en route to outscoring the Bucs 52-26 in the first half. The Tigers excelled in all areas of the game in building the wide margin. Offensively, the Tigers created open looks for themselves inside and outside and rarely missed. All told, Auburn shot 58.3% in the first half; a number that would have been significantly higher had the Tigers not cooled towards the end of the half.
The Tigers also showed impressive teamwork and unselfishness in building the lead, as each player who played for Jeff Lebo's squad scored in the first half and six players scored five points or more, with Rasheem Barrett leading the way with 11.
Defensively, the Tigers caused a lot of problems for the young Bucs with an aggressive pressure defense which forced 13 turnovers and held the Bucs to 22.2% shooting in the game's first portion.
The second half was significantly more even, mainly thanks to the continued excellence of Omar Carter. Carter continued his hard work in corralling missed CSU shots by grabbing four more offensive rebounds in the second half, giving him eight such boards for the game and 12 rebounds overall. The North Carolinian's bucket with 7:18 to go would trim the Auburn lead to 20.
20 would be as close as the Bucs would get in the second, however, as the Tigers continued their hot shooting right until the game's conclusion. Barrett in particular remained difficult to defend, as the junior guard connected on five of his six second half field goal attempts and both of his threes. Barrett finished with 25 points on the game to lead Auburn, who also had Korvotney Barber (15 points), Lucas Hargrove (12 points), Frank Tolbert (11 points) and DeWayne Reed (11 points) reach double figures.
On the CSU end, Carter was joined in double digits by Knysas with 13 and Chris Moore (Morganton, N.C.) with 11. The Bucs outrebounded Auburn on the night 40-36 thanks to no less than 27 offensive rebounds, but the drastic shooting difference between the two squads (Auburn 55.6%, CSU 32.3%) would prove to be more than enough for the Bucs to overcome.
The Bucs will seek a return to winning ways on Black Friday, when they will travel to Jacksonville, Fla. to face the Ospreys of North Florida at 7 P.M.
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