Auburn nips LSU

Posted 8:33AM on Sunday 9th February 2003 ( 22 years ago )

AUBURN, ALABAMA - On second thought, Cliff Ellis went to a small lineup with the ball going to Marquis Daniels for a drive to the hoop. Daniels instead fired a pass to Auburn reserve Nathan Watson, who hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left to seal a 56-54 victory over LSU on Saturday. Ellis only inserted Watson after calling a second timeout with 13 seconds left, going to a four-guard lineup. ``The play was to Marquis and I was just letting him do his work,'' said Watson, who missed his four previous shots. ``I knew they would collapse (inside). ``I wasn't surprised to be so open.'' The host Tigers (17-5, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) led all the way until Jaime Lloreda's basket with 3:07 left gave LSU (13-8, 2-7) a 54-53 lead. Neither team scored for the next three minutes. Watson's basket ended a turbulent week for Auburn. The Tigers won twice, but had plenty of heartache off the court. Center Kyle Davis's mother, Cradell, died of cancer Friday morning. ``It's been a very tough week,'' Ellis said. ``The thing I'm most proud of is we won these games and played through chaos, and I think that showed a lot of character.'' Of the final shot, he said, ``It was like Cradell Davis set it down.'' Lloreda missed the first free throw of a 1-and-1 situation with 19 seconds left, with Auburn's Marco Killingsworth collecting the rebound. Auburn called the two timeouts with 13 seconds left, then Daniels found an open Watson on the left wing for the game-winner and his only points. Watson, a walk-on who has become a key player off the bench, had missed three 3-pointers, but didn't hesitate to put up another one as Ronald Dupree ran toward him. ``I had never heard of him and he comes off the bench and makes the shot,'' said Dupree, who led LSU with 17 points. ``I had the best view and I didn't want to foul him. So all I could do is put my hand up and he made the shot and won the game for Auburn.'' Antonio Hudson's 3-pointer at the buzzer fell short as Auburn maintained its surprising lead in the Western Division. ``We just outwilled LSU to win the game,'' said Derrick Bird, who had four first-half 3-pointers and 14 points. Daniels finished with 15 points, five steals and four assists. Killingsworth had nine points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Dupree made 8-of-12 shots but had five turnovers. LSU coach John Brady blamed bad luck for the loss. ``They passed it to a guy who was (0-for-4) for the day, he shoots it over a guy who is 6-7, and it goes in,'' Brady said. ``It was just a timely shot. We were just unlucky.'' Auburn, the league's best shooting team, shot just 38 percent and made 7-of-14 free throws but still has won all four games against SEC West opponents. Auburn also got a big 3-pointer with four seconds left in the first half, this one by Bird for a 32-26 lead built mostly on opportunistic defense. The host Tigers swiped three inbounds passes in a span of less than three minutes getting a fourth in the second half and had nine steals, taking a 22-9 lead on a Killingsworth steal and basket. Dupree hit three straight jump shots, including a 3-pointer, then his layup cut it to three with 39 seconds left before Bird's shot. Auburn, which maintained its one-game lead over Mississippi State in the West, got added fuel from the death of Cradell Davis. ``We had a lot of energy, mostly because of Kyle and his mother,'' Daniels said. ``We wanted to win for them.''

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