Streaking Alabama visits reeling Auburn

Posted 7:37AM on Wednesday 26th January 2005 ( 20 years ago )

Jeff Lebo can't help but be a little jealous when he looks at Alabama's balance, talent and size. The Auburn coach enters Wednesday night's game against the visiting 14th-ranked Crimson Tide (15-3, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) seeking his first league win with a team that has a shortage of those three qualities. ``Alabama may be the most talented team in the league. I really like this team,'' Lebo said. ``I like their ability to score at every position. The only thing I can see as a weakness is probably the depth, but boy I'd like to have it.'' The Tigers (9-8, 0-4) are off to their worst SEC start since opening 0-10 in the 1993-94 season and are coming off an embarrassing 95-59 loss at Arkansas. The Tide is one of the league's hottest teams, jumping eight spots in the rankings after blowing out Mississippi State and winning at Mississippi. Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said the Tigers do present some matchup problems, with Division I's smallest lineup, led by the SEC's top scorer Toney Douglas. His team has struggled at times at defending the 3-point shot, which is Auburn's primary weapon. ``Our perimeter defense is going to be the most critical part our game,'' Gottfried said. ``Can we guard them? Are they going to be a team that's going to hit 15 3-point baskets against us? Vanderbilt did. We need to do a much better job on the perimeter and make sure we take away the 3.'' Alabama has won four straight since that opening defeat at Vanderbilt. The Tide has won the past three meetings, overcoming a 12-point deficit in the last meeting to snap a seven-game losing streak at Beard-Eaves Coliseum. But there hasn't been quite this big a mismatch in the series in recent seasons, with Alabama making a case for the league's best team and Auburn arguably the worst. The Tigers are getting only 7.3 points from their reserves in league games and have been abused in the second half, when SEC teams have been shooting 65 percent and outscoring them by an average 47-31. ``We don't come into this game thinking we're going to lose,'' Auburn guard Nathan Watson said. ``A lot of people are still going to underestimate us and come out a little soft. We've got to capitalize on that.'' Gottfried is doing his best to make sure it doesn't happen to his team. ``We've got a good challenge in front of us,'' he said. ``Auburn poses a lot of problems for teams. I think they're very dangerous. I think Jeff Lebo's coaching them well. Certainly you have to play well to beat them.'' The game will feature three of the league's top scorers, and two of the top freshmen as well in Douglas and Tide point guard Ron Steele. Douglas is the nation's top scoring freshman, averaging a league-high 19.1 points per game. Alabama's Kennedy Winston (17.8 points) is the reigning SEC player of the week while Earnest Shelton (17.4) isn't far behind in scoring production. ``They've got two players on the wings that can flat-out beat you by themselves,'' Lebo said.

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