The No. 22 Auburn Tigers fell just short against the No. 1 Houston Cougars in Birmingham on Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't the teams inability to play together that led to the loss.

Auburn managed to stick together as a unit, and that played a significant role in its ability to not only compete with one of the best teams in the country, but to have an opportunity to win the game at the final buzzer.

“Stay together in big situations. That’s what we did,” sophomore guard Tahhad Pettiford said. “We got stops when we needed to, just couldn’t convert at the end of the game. We think we can compete with anybody in the country. We fought against a great team.”

While the team's ability to stick together and fight until the very end helped produce a competitive performance, the Auburn faithful played a role in the buzzer-to-buzzer contest as well.

Members of the Tigers appreciated the way the fans came out and showed their support for the team.

“I want to thank the fans. That was a phenomenal environment,” head coach Steven Pearl said. “Showing up in numbers like that gave our guys the confidence and courage to give a substantial effort. They always show up. I really wanted to win that game for them.”

The Tigers will hope to see their ability to compete as a unit pay dividends as it prepares to face one of the most challenging non-conference slates in college basketball.

Auburn still has a true road game against Arizona, a matchup with Purdue at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and a trip to Las Vegas to compete in the Players Era Festival.

To make it through this stretch, sticking together will be imperative for the Tigers if they want to reach the SEC portion of their schedule with multiple Quad 1 wins.