A return trip to Kansas City for another Sweet 16 was within reach for Auburn midway through its second-round game against top-seeded Houston.

Instead, Bruce Pearl’s team was left with a sour taste in its mouth as its season came crashing down thanks to a disastrous second half at Legacy Arena. The Tigers surrendered a double-digit halftime lead and were rendered helpless as their offense went stagnant in the second half of an 81-64 loss to the Cougars.

Houston outscored Auburn, 50-23, after halftime as the Tigers struggled to sustain any semblance of an offense over the game’s final 20 minutes. Auburn shot just 4-of-24 (16.7 percent) in the second half, which included a stretch of 11 consecutive missed shot attempts over the span of 10 minutes and 37 seconds.

Auburn watched its 10-point halftime lead evaporate during that stretch, emerging from the drought trailing by three. AAC Player of the Year Marcus Sasser drilled back-to-back 3-pointers, the second coming with 12:55 to play to give Houston its first lead since the 6:15 mark of the first half. Sasser, despite being hampered by foul trouble in the second half, finished with 22 points.

The Tigers briefly reclaimed the lead when K.D. Johnson went 2-of-3 from the free-throw line after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt, but it was short-lived. Tramon Mark — who had a game-high 26 points, including 20 in the second half — tied the game at 50-50 with 9:55 left, and Jamal Shead put the Cougars in front for good with a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession.

Auburn simply couldn’t cobble together quality possessions and was completely dreadful from the free-throw line despite being in the bonus with more than 10 minutes to play. Auburn went 15-of-26 from the free-throw line in the second half and finished just 19-of-36 at the line for what was one of its worst foul-shooting performances of the season — and at the most inopportune time.

Things went about as poorly as they could for Auburn in the second half, which represented a direct inverse of what was a nearly flawless first 10 minutes against the tournament’s No. 2 overall seed and one of the nation’s best defenses.

The Tigers took a 41-31 lead into the break after closing the half on a 17-4 run.

Auburn shot 55.2 percent from the field in the first half, including a 5-of-11 clip from beyond the arc. That included two more triples from freshman Tre Donaldson, whose NCAA Tournament career started with five consecutive makes after his 3-for-3 performance in the opening round against Iowa.

The Tigers had eight assists on 16 made baskets in the first half, and they committed just two turnovers during the opening 20 minutes. They even held an edge on the boards, outrebounding the Cougars, 21-9, despite Houston opening the game with seven offensive boards in the first 10 minutes (including three of them on the opening possession of the night). Defensively, they limited the Cougars to 34.4 percent shooting and just 2-of-12 from 3-point range.

More importantly, after Sasser scored nine points in the games first five-plus minutes, Auburn held him scoreless for the final 14:37 of the half.

It was an almost flawless first half for Auburn against the field’s No. 2 overall seed. The only thing that didn’t go the Tigers’ way? Free throws. Auburn was just 4-of-10 from the charity stripe in the opening half, including an airball from Donaldson after his hot start.

Turns out, those struggles at the line were a harbinger of things to come.

AL.com will update this post.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.