You’ve got to have good guard play to win on the road in the SEC and that certainly wasn’t the case for No. 4 Auburn Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa.

The Tigers’ senior backcourt duo of J’Von McCormick and Samir Doughty combined to shoot 4 of 19 from the floor including 0 of 5 3-pointers, and fouled out in the second half of an 83-64 loss at Alabama.

“We got really, really bad point guard play tonight,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl told the Auburn Network. “One of the first times that we got out-played. Kira Lewis was terrific and our point guards struggled. Samir Doughty with seven turnovers, not typical. He hurt his Achilles in the first half, which obviously slowed him down, but obviously we can play better.”

Doughty’s seven turnovers were a career high. He was 2 of 11 from the floor and 0 of 2 from beyond the arc, tying a season-low with six points, no rebounds and three assists. McCormick was 2 of 8 from the floor and 0 of 3 from 3-point range. He had five points, six rebounds, three assists and one turnover.

Along with Austin Wiley, Danjel Purifoy and Anfernee McLemore, Auburn’s seniors combined to shoot just 10 of 39 from the floor (25.6 percent).

“Our seniors were 1-for-15 in the first half. You’re just not going to go on the road and be able to win playing that ineffectively and with lack of urgency,” Pearl said.

The first loss of the season drops Auburn to 15-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference while Alabama improves to 9-7 and 2-2. Lewis led the Tide with 25 points on 8 of 14 shooting.

“I’m not surprised that we weren’t able to win, but I’m very surprised by the way we played,” Pearl said. “To turn the ball over 21 times against moderate pressure — really disappointing. Just extremely poor execution, attention to detail. Couldn’t come out of timeouts and even remember where we’re supposed to be and what we’re supposed to do. Mentally, we just weren’t sharp.

“It really boils down to we just didn’t execute more than anything and Alabama played with a little more effort and energy.”

Auburn faces another tough road test at Florida Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CT on CBS.