Auburn had more size and strength than Memphis; it didn’t matter.

Memphis physically dominated Auburn en route to an 82-73 win that truly was never in doubt.

Despite having a size advantage to begin with and Memphis’ two best bigs being in foul trouble, Memphis still managed to out-rebound Auburn 43-32.

“Didn't play with the kind of effort and energy that we've been playing with on the defensive end,” said Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl.

In addition, Auburn got doubled up in the paint as Memphis outscored Auburn 50-24 in that area.

Kendric Davis and Alex Lomax were consistently beating any defender that was thrown at them off the dribble.

“They just drove the ball to the basket,” Pearl said. “They drove it right around us. They drove it left around us. They got to the rim, and they scored. We didn't rotate very well. We weren't very physical defensively.”

Auburn opened up the season allowing under 70 points in every game, but that script was flipped as Memphis put up 82 points and shot 51 percent from the field.

The strongest part of Auburn’s defense, its shot-blocking, was MIA as Auburn only recorded two blocks with both coming towards the end of the game.

“From our team defensive standpoint, our guys were opening up the gate,” Pearl said. “They were driving downhill. They were able to make 1-on-1 plays. We didn't make them score through our chest. We fouled them too much. I think that was probably the biggest factor.”