Auburn Tigers vs New Mexico Lobos Box Score on Nov 25, 2019

No. 18 Auburn survived its coldest-shooting night of the season to post an 84-59 victory over New Mexico on Monday in the nightcap of the Roman Legends Classic semifinals in New York.

The Tigers (6-0) shot 32 of 76 from the field, a season-low 42.1 percent. Guard Sami Doughty led the team in scoring with 19 points, and senior center Austin Wiley posted his second consecutive double-double and fifth of his career with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.

Guard/forward Makuach Maluach scored 14 points to lead the Lobos (5-2). Their leading scorer, guard JaQuan Lyle, scored only two points, nearly 18 under his 19.8 average, after shooting 1-for-10 from the floor.

Auburn will face Richmond, who defeated Wisconsin 62-52 in the other semifinal, in the Legends Classic championship game. The Lobos and Badgers will meet in the consolation game.

Leading 35-24 at the half, Auburn opened the second period with an 8-0 run before guard Vance Jackson ended New Mexico's drought with the Lobos' first 3-pointer of the game. The Tigers went on to stretch their advantage to 51-29 at the under-16 media timeout and were in control thereafter.

The Tigers upped their lead to 27 points shortly before the Lobos went on an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to 56-37 with 11:45 left. A little over a minute later Auburn's lead was back up to 25. It reached 31 points, 84-53 before coach Bruce Pearl emptied his bench.

The game started out with sloppy play by both teams but Auburn got straightened out first, going on a 16-0 run as the Lobos went 7 minutes, 11 seconds without a field goal. That allowed the Tigers to build a 25-14 cushion just past the midpoint of the first half.

The Tigers finished the half up 35-24 despite shooting just 30.1 percent from the field (13 of 42) as the Lobos not only had trouble shooting (10 of 32 for 31.3 percent with no 3-pointers) but also committed 12 turnovers to the Tigers' five. They ended the game with 24 turnovers to Auburn's 10.

--Field Level Media