Tigers hang on against Texas Tech

Auburn's 19-point lead dissipated with alarming ease during the second half Tuesday night, but LaRon Smith was taking notes.

The forward was ready when his moment arrived.

Smith, a graduate transfer from Bethune-Cookman, had a feeling Texas Tech forward Aaron Ross was going to take the last shot on a drive to the basket. When Ross took possession of the ball with eight seconds remaining, Smith knew what was going to happen.

Smith's block at the 4-second mark wrecked the Red Raiders' final push and preserved Auburn' 67-65 win in the Cancun Challenge semifinals.

"I saw (Ross) trying to get to the basket. There’s no way I’m letting him get that layup," Smith said. "I just saw it all happening. I knew he’d be throwing something up; he’d been throwing up shots all day. I just went for it."

It was all Chuck Person's idea.

Head coach Bruce Pearl hadn't really considered putting Smith into the game, but a suggestion by Person, the Tigers' associate head coach, seemed intuitive to provide rim protection for the Red Raiders' last stand. So Smith entered the game just before Texas Tech's final possession.

"That was a good call," Pearl said with a chuckle.

Smith's swat was the game's defining play on an otherwise troubling night for the Tigers. They built a massive lead during the early stages of the second half, but lost focus on the defensive end while simultaneously going cold from the floor.

Texas Tech (3-1) took advantage by whittling away at that massive lead one bucket at a time. The Tigers earned a reprieve of sorts at the 1:18 mark when guard T.J. Dunans stole a high-post pass and turned it into an easy bucket on the other end a few seconds later.

That bumped Auburn's lead to six points.

Yet a missed three-point shot and two missed free throws by Harper left the door open for Texas Tech -- until Smith finally slammed it shut.

"I thought we stopped guarding in the second half," Pearl said, "but I’d rather learn and win than learn and lose. It’s a big win for the league so far because that’s a tournament team. It was a great win for our program, a great win for our kids."

Auburn (4-0) was led in scoring by freshman Mustapha Heron, who finished with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Forward Danjel Purifoy added 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Auburn resumes play Wednesday night against No. 17 Purdue. That game will be televised live by CBS Sports Network beginning at 7:30 p.m. CST.