The next team standing between Auburn and an SEC regular-season title is South Carolina.
The 10th-ranked Tigers (23-3, 11-2 SEC) travel to Columbia, S.C., this afternoon to take on the Gamecocks (13-13, 4-9) at 2:30 in Colonial Life Arena. South Carolina has lost six straight games since beating Florida on the road last month, but the Gamecocks have won two straight against the Tigers.
Auburn has won two in a row since a midweek loss to Texas A&M last week, and Bruce Pearl's team holds what is essentially a three-game lead over Tennessee (two games up, plus the head-to-head tiebreaker) atop the SEC standings with five games to play.
Below is a recap of the Tigers' loss to South Carolina.
FINAL: South Carolina 84, Auburn 75
-- Tigers can't complete the rally and fall short. Heron leads the team with 16 points.
-- Jared Harper fouls out with 23.1 to play. He finishes with 13 points and nine turnovers.
-- Chuma Okeke with a 3-pointer to make it a seven-point game with 24 seconds to play. Tigers fighting valiantly, but running out of time.
-- Harper makes the third to get back within eight. A steal and a layup by Harper cuts it to six with 1:18 to go.
-- Timeout (1:33): South Carolina 75, Auburn 66 | Jared Harper gets fouled on a 3-pointer and makes the first two FTs before a timeout.
-- Horace Spencer fouls out with 3:31 to play, which leads to two more free throws for South Carolina, which makes one. Gamecocks lead, 69-59.
-- Under-4 timeout: South Carolina 67, Auburn 59 (3:49) | South Carolina to the line out of the timeout for a pair of free throws and a chance to get back to double-digit lead. Auburn has missed its last four shots and hasn't scored in 3:09.
-- South Carolina back up eight. Chuma Okeke misses a putback dunk and then a 3-pointer.
-- Brown gets fouled on a midrange jumper and knocks down both free throws. Auburn is within five.
-- Under-8 timeout: South Carolina 64, Auburn 57 (7:27) | What was once a 26-point South Carolina lead is now down to seven. Bryce Brown has made his last two from beyond the arc after starting 0-for-9.
-- Brown with another 3-pointer. Auburn is within seven. Tigers then force a shot-clock violation.
-- Desean Murray with an offensive rebound and putback to get it to nine. Knocks down the free throw to get within eight, 62-54, with 8:43 to play.
-- Chuma Okeke misses a pair of FTs. Auburn still down 11 with nine minutes to play.
-- Bryce Brown's 1st made 3-pointer cuts it to single-digits, but South Carolina answers with a basket.
-- South Carolina has missed five straight shots.
-- Under-12 timeout: South Carolina 57, Auburn 44 (11:58) | Malik Dunbar picked up his fourth foul, which brings Auburn one foul away from being even more shorthanded. Still, Tigers fighting to chip away at the lead. Horace Spencer playing big this half.
-- Bryce Brown has ice on his right shoulder on the sidelines right now.
-- Auburn just 2-of-20 from beyond the arc. Tigers getting some good looks.
-- Malik Dunbar with a 3-pointer out of the inbound play. Just Auburn's second of the game. Tigers follow with a basket by Chuma Okeke, and it's suddenly a 13-point game.
-- Under-16 timeout: South Carolina 53, Auburn 33 (15:38) | Auburn trying to chip away, but South Carolina pushes it back to 20 with a 3-pointer from Booker. Tigers, meanwhile, cannot buy a 3-pointer. Bryce Brown is 0-for-8 from deep.
-- Another backdoor cut leads to a dunk by Mustapha Heron on a feed from Jared Harper. Auburn within 17.
-- Dunk by Desean Murray gets Auburn within 19. Gamecocks then commit a turnover under the basket.
-- McLemore has been diagnosed with a dislocated left ankle and is being taken to a hospital in Columbia for X-rays, per a team spokesman.
HALFTIME: South Carolina 46, Auburn 25
-- Auburn cuts it to 21 at the half. Tigers shot just 25 percent from the field and 1-of-11 from 3-point range while turning it over nine times. Gamecocks shot 48 percent and hit 5-of-13 from deep.
-- McLemore loaded onto a stretcher and being carted off the floor. Huge loss for Auburn, which is now down to eight scholarship players and without its best interior defender. Looks like Desean Murray fell back into McLemore's left ankle after trying to draw a charge (and getting called for a foul).
-- Anfernee McLemore is down on the court screaming in pain with 1:23 to play in the half. His left foot appeared turned the wrong way. Huge loss for Auburn, and this doesn't look good.
-- Harper has a season-high six turnovers, and it's not yet halftime.
-- Jared Harper with a 3-pointer, which is Auburn's first make from deep in nine tries. South Carolina answers with its own 3-pointer to push it back to 26.
-- Under-4 timeout: South Carolin 40, Auburn 16 (3:56) | Davion Mitchell with a layup and a chance for a 3-point play. Auburn is 0-for-8 from beyond the arc, while South Carolina is 4-for-9 from 3 and shooting 54 percent overall to Auburn's 21 percent.
-- Mustapha Heron stops the bleeding with a backdoor cut that leads to a dunk and-1, ending a 4:32 scoring drought. Auburn down 37-14.
-- Timeout Auburn (7:12): South Carolina 33, Auburn 11 | Tigers call a timeout after another Gamecocks basket. Auburn hasn't scored in 3:20. Gamecocks on a 17-1 run over last 4:14, and 10-0 run over last 3:02. Auburn just 2-of-12 from the field with eight turnovers, which have led to 14 South Carolina points.
-- Auburn playing perhaps the worst it has all season. Tigers down 29-11 and have seven turnovers, four of them by Harper. Only two made field goals so far. Largest deficit of the season for Auburn.
-- South Carolina up 25-11 with 9:31 to go. Auburn is just 2-of-10 from the field.
-- After a 3-pointer, South Carolina has pushed its lead to 23-10 with 10:31 to go.
-- Malik Dunbar picks up his third foul with 10:47 to go. He heads to the bench.
-- Under-12 timeout: South Carolina 18, Auburn 10 (11:26) | Auburn shooting just 2-of-8 with five turnovers (three from Harper), while South Carolina has made eight of its last 10 shots.
-- Chuma Okeke with a steal and a layup to end a FG drought of more than 3 minutes.
-- Mustapha Heron with a layup out of the timeout for Auburn's first basket of the afternoon, but South Carolina quickly answers.
-- Under-16 timeout: South Carolina 6, Auburn 4 (15:35) | Auburn has not yet made a field goal (0-for-2), and both teams have committed four turnovers apiece. All six Gamecocks points are off Auburn turnovers.
-- South Carolina wins the tip, but Anfernee McLemore with a steal before the Gamecocks can get anything going. Mustapha Heron gets fouled on a baseline drive and knocks down both free throws to give Auburn an early 2-0 lead.
-- Auburn lineup: G Jared Harper, G Bryce Brown, G Mustapha Heron, F Desean Murray, F Anfernee McLemore
-- South Carolina lineup: G Hassani Gravett, G Evan Hinson, F Justin Minaya, F Maik Kotsar, F Evan Silva
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.