Alabama (12-6, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) was without leading scorer Collin Sexton, who missed the game with an abdominal injury, but Petty stepped up and led the Crimson Tide to their third straight win.

Down 13 at the nine-minute mark of the second half, Auburn made a late run and was within 68-63 after a free throw by Chuma Okeke with two minutes left.

The Tigers (16-2, 4-1) had possession down three with five seconds to play, but they turned it over before getting off a potential tying 3-point attempt.

Alabama's Dazon Ingram hit a pair of free throws to seal the win.

Ingram ended the night with 16 points, while Herb Jones had 11 for the Crimson Tide.

Desean Murray scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Bryce Brown finished with 12 points to lead the Tigers, who lost for the first time since Nov. 17 against Temple.

Okeke and Auburn point guard Jared Harper each finished with 10 points.

Without Sexton, the Crimson Tide had to find new ways to generate offense and struggled in the early going. Alabama committed 12 turnovers in the first half but still managed to stay close.

The Crimson Tide's Alex Reese drained a high-arching 3-pointer from the corner to tie the score 30-30 with 22 seconds left in the half.

Okeke answered seconds later, hitting a 3-pointer from the left wing to send the Tigers into the locker room with a three-point lead.

Petty got going early in the second half. He capped a 21-7 run to start the half with a 3-pointer that gave Alabama a 51-41 lead with 13:34 to play.

The Tigers clawed back into the game, but hurt themselves in the final minutes at the free throw line. Auburn went 14 of 22 from the foul line in the game.

The Tigers will try to bounce back at home against Georgia on Saturday.

Alabama hosts Mississippi State on Saturday.

--Field Level Media