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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Midway through the season, Alabama
freshman Rod Grizzard asked coach Mark Gottfried what his role with
the Crimson Tide was supposed to be.
|  | | Alabama's Schea Cotton, right, and Rod Grizzard limit the offensive options of Auburn's Daymeon Fishback. |
Gottfried left it up to him.
"I didn't know if I was supposed to be a leader or a follower,
and coach asked me what I thought, and I said, 'I guess I ought to
be a leader,"' Grizzard said.
He was on Tuesday night, scoring 25 points and matching Auburn's
Chris Porter basket for basket in Alabama's 68-64 upset over the
Tigers (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP). It snapped the Crimson Tide's four-game losing
streak to Auburn.
"Grizzard was really the difference tonight," said Porter, who
led Auburn with 21 points and 12 rebounds. "He came to play and he
made some really big shots."
Terrance Meade made two free throws with 3.8 seconds to play to
seal the win for Alabama (12-13, 5-8 Southeastern Conference).
Alabama's crowd -- its first sellout of the season -- stormed the
court Gottfried grabbed a microphone and thanked the fans for
coming.
"We came in here tonight with 11 wins, and still when we came
in for the shootaround at 1 this afternoon, there were 40 or 50
students already here," Gottfried said. "That support means a lot
to this team."
Scott Pohlman gave Auburn (21-5, 9-4) a 64-63 lead with a
driving layup with 1:09 to play. But Alabama regained it on
Grizzard's 3-pointer -- his fifth of the night -- that put the Tide
up 66-64 with 55 seconds to go.
Pohlman and Doc Robinson both missed 3-point attempts at the
other end -- Robinson's was partially blocked by Grizzard -- and the
ball went out of bounds. Meade was fouled on the inbound pass and
made both his shots.
Robinson and Pohlman both missed 3s again at the other end and
Alabama got the rebound off Pohlman's miss.
"We had good looks, that's all you can ask for," said Auburn
coach Cliff Ellis said. "That game could have gone either way. We
had the lead inside of a couple of minutes and we got looks, we
just came up short."
Meade and Schea Cotton scored 13 points each for Alabama and
Erwin Dudley had 12.
Robinson scored 11 for Auburn. Pohlman and Mack McGadney had 10
each.
The loss was costly for Auburn, which saw 7-foot senior center
Mamadou N'diaye go down with a knee injury midway through the first
half. N'diaye was caught in a collision under the basket on Schea
Cotton's driving layup and Ellis said he sprained ligaments in his
left knee.
It also opened the door for No. 15 LSU to move into a tie with Auburn for the SEC West lead with a win Wednesday at South Carolina.
Ellis said N'diaye and senior forward Daymeon Fishback -- who didn't start Tuesday because of a cyst on his knee -- are both doubtful for Sunday's game at No. 9 Florida.
"I'm concerned about our team's health, but I don't want to
take away from what Alabama did," Ellis said. "We've got some
battles left and we've got a couple of guys we need to get
healthy."
Auburn, the preseason pick to win the SEC, still must play Florida, LSU and at Arkansas.
With N'diaye out, the Tide first tried to move inside and attack
the glass. When that didn't work, Alabama pushed its game outside
in the second half and found success with a succession of
3-pointers and 15-foot jumpers to build a 52-46 lead -- its largest
of the game -- with 8:45 to play.
It then turned into the Porter vs. Grizzard show. For every
layup Porter muscled in, Grizzard answered with a long jumper or a
3.
"I guess it's just having confidence in your shot,' Grizzard
said. "Coach said, 'Shoot the ball, it'll come,' and that's what I
did."
After Porter's spinning jumper with 3:50 to play cut Alabama's
lead to 58-57, Grizzard hit a 3 to make it 61-57. Porter then
scored on a layup and Robinson hit a jumper and made a free throw
to give Auburn a 62-61 lead with 2:20 to go. Alabama's Erwin Dudley
put the Tide back up 63-62, Alabama's last basket until Grizzard's
3-pointer.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Auburn Clubhouse
Alabama Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rod Grizzard slams home the missed shot.
avi: 845 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Doc Robinson feeds Chris Porter on the fast break.
avi: 1038 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Rod Grizzard does it at both ends of the floor.
avi: 1345 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Chris Porter gets called for goaltending on the slam.
avi: 774 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Rod Grizzard stepped it up for the in-state showdown.
wav: 123 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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