Auburn chose the worst time against rival Alabama to prove that its coach’s repeated mantra from the first half of the year has been correct.

“It is what it is,” Tigers coach Tony Barbee said. “We can’t score.”

Auburn went scoreless for 4:07 down the stretch Saturday, turning a 2-point deficit into a 68-58 loss to the Crimson Tide in front of a sellout crowd of 9,121 at Auburn Arena.

Saturday’s loss marked the first time since the 2006 that Alabama beat Auburn on the road, and the first time since the 2005-06 season the Tigers started 0-5 in conference play.

The Tigers had seven possessions between the time Rob Chub hit a jumper with 5:07 to go and Earnest Ross drained two free throws with a minute left.

They turned them into six missed shots and two turnovers, as Alabama ripped off an 8-0 run to put the game on ice.

“I thought we played hard, thought we played tough,” Barbee said. “We battled our tails off. We outrebounded a really good rebounding team and did a lot of things well.

“But we can’t score. Theme of the year.”

Auburn (7-12, 0-5 SEC) and Alabama (12-7, 4-1) played tight nearly the entire game.

The Tigers gained a bit of distance with two Ross free throws, gaining their biggest lead of the night at 22-17 with 7:17 left in the first half, but Alabama closed and took a 29-27 lead into the break on a deep Tony Mitchell 3-pointer with 3 seconds before the horn.

After Gene Chizik accepted the ODK Foy Sportsmanship Trophy and the Alabama student council president sang the Auburn fight song at halftime, the two teams traded jabs for the first half of the final 20 minutes, with a Josh Langford follows on a missed free throw putting the Tigers up 45-44 with 8:56 to go.

Then Charvez Davis hit a 3-pointer, Chris Hines sank a free throw and the Tide started on a 9-4 run over the next 2:09 to set up an Auburn drought down the stretch that was remarkably similar to the one it suffered against Florida on Thursday night.

There were 19 lead changes and ties before Alabama pulled away.

“It is frustrating,” Ross said. “You’ve got to play to the horn. When the buzzer ends, that’s when the game is over.”

Ross recorded his third double-double of the season, scoring 20 points to go along with 13 rebounds and five assists.

Kenny Gabriel scored 11 and Rob Chubb added 9, but 38 percent shooting and 21 turnovers served as a testament to Barbee’s “theme of the year.”

“Tonight we didn’t have enough guys scoring the ball, which made it tough to keep up with them, because every time they scored, it made it tough on our offense, made more pressure on our offense to score the ball and we weren’t converting,” Ross said. “But when we get a chance to make plays, make plays. And we didn’t have enough people to make plays tonight.”

Mitchell and JaMychal Green led the Tide with 15 points apiece, and Trevor Releford and Senario Hillman each scored 10.

Half of Releford’s scoring came on five free throws as Alabama was putting the game out of reach, part of a 15-for-18 mark for the Tide in the final 2:14 that quieted the fans before it sent them for the exits.

“We’re really close. We’ve just got to get a screen here, make a shot here. We need to start getting some and-1’s on the offense end when we’re close by the basket,” Gabriel said. “We need to start putting it in the rim.”

It’s a tough refrain for Barbee to keep hearing as his Tigers still search for their first conference win.

“I hate losing no matter what it is. Ping pong, checkers. My wife still won’t play Monopoly with me over a game from 10 years ago,” Barbee said. “I’m being serious. I hate losing. I hate losing more than I like winning.”

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