AUBURN | Alabama’s 14 made 3-pointers weren’t enough to overcome Auburn’s dominance in the paint.

The top-ranked Tigers out-scored the Tide 52-22 inside to pull out a 100-81 win Tuesday night at Auburn Arena. Auburn improves to 21-1 overall and 9-0 in the SEC with its 18th consecutive win.

"Getting down in the paint on drives and stuff, I feel like that was a big part of our paint points," said center Walker Kessler, who had 12 rebounds and blocked eight shots. "And defensively, whenever they drove the ball just having our height at the rim to alter shots, every if we don’t get a block it’s hard to go down there and make it."

Eight of Kessler's 14 points came on dunks as he shot 6 of 9 from the floor. The 7-footer added one assist and four steals.

“Walker had eight blocks tonight, gah-lee. And how many times did he change shots at the rim," said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl.

Auburn out-rebounded UA 47-40 and the bench again shined, with a 44-20 scoring edge. AU shot 48.5 percent from the floor.

Wendell Green led the Tigers with 23 points. He added eight rebounds and six assists. Jabari Smith had 17 points, KD Johnson 13 and Allen Flanigan 10.

Auburn led 51-37 at halftime behind runs of 13-2 and 11-0. Tigers shot 57.1 percent from the floor before the break. UA started the second half on a 12-2 run and cut AU’s lead to two points with 14:34 left, but AU responded with an 18-3 run to take back control of the game.

“In the second half when Alabama went on a great run, it was the bench,” said Pearl. “It was Devan Cambridge, it was Jaylin Williams, it was Dylan Cardwell, it was Wendell. The bench came in and got eight stops in a row, and that was huge.

“Forty-four off the bench — that’s crazy. But that’s just what makes us dangerous.”

The Tigers return to action Saturday at Georgia. Tip-off at Stegeman Coliseum is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network.