Auburn went ice cold from everywhere in the second half and is once again out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round, falling to the Cougars 81-64.
For the 11th time in 12 trips to the NCAA Tournament, Auburn basketball will be in the second round. The Tigers have not lost a first-round matchup since their first-ever appearance in the tournament, a one-point loss to Richmond in 1984. Auburn is moving on, and to right the wrongs of last season and make it to the second weekend, the team will have to make it through one of the best teams in the country, No. 1 Houston(32-3, 17-1 AAC).
“We've played a really tough schedule, and we lost to a lot of teams that were favored and were better than us,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “ Even though we've lost some games, I was proud of them for competing. I want them to know that they're good enough.”
Auburn will be facing another team that has a size advantage.
Just like the days of the Iron Bowl at Legion Field, the center of college athletics in Alabama will once again be in Birmingham this week as the city will host Auburn and Alabama for the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are a No. 9 seed, and will face Iowa. Birmingham will host portions of the first and second rounds of the South and Midwest Regions.
Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl said “US foreign policy has put the world at risk and the potential for greater conflict exists” after news of a China-brokered peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran was announced on Friday.
It was a different story from last year, but the same result for Auburn (20-12, 10-8 SEC), who has gone one-and-done in the SEC Tournament for the second year in a row, dropping a second-round matchup with Arkansas 76-73. The Razorbacks (20-12, 8-10 SEC) will move on and look to strengthen their NCAA Tournament resume, while the Tigers will look to regroup and prepare for the madness of March.
Auburn has faced must-win after must-win in the last month, and it has been more disappointment than excitement for the Tigers. Losers of eight of their last 11, the Tigers needed a win to not only go into the SEC Tournament with momentum, but also send the seniors out on top. Auburn(20-11, 10-8 SEC) did both, earning a crucial Quad 1 win, taking down No. 12 Tennessee(22-8, 11-7 SEC) 79-70.
Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl voiced his frustration with the officiating following his team's overtime loss to No. 2 Alabama on Wednesday night.
Auburn surrendered its 17-point lead, lost Johni Broome to foul trouble and Dylan Cardwell to an injury, and still, the Tigers had a chance to win in regulation.
With three difficult games left on the schedule, and a team that was narrowly avoiding the bubble, Auburn(19-10, 9-7 SEC) needed to build off of the momentum from the Ole Miss win and compete in Rupp Arena. Instead, what was a close game quickly turned into complete domination as the Tigers fell to the Wildcats(20-9, 11-5 SEC) 86-54.
No win in the SEC comes easily, and while it was not always pretty, Auburn took down Ole Miss 78-74, clinching the season sweep of the Rebels.
Another SEC matchup coming up and it is another must-win for the Tigers. Auburn welcomes Ole Miss(10-17, 2-12 SEC) to Neville Arena this week as only four games remain before the SEC Tournament.
In a big day for the SEC, with a huge win for Alabama and a critical victory for Kentucky in Rupp, Auburn’s NCAA Tournament resume took a significant blow with a loss to Vanderbilt in Nashville.
In what Bruce Pearl called a “must-win” game, the Tigers (18-8, 8-5 SEC) not only defeated but completely dominated Missouri (19-7, 7-6 SEC) in a wire-to-wire victory at Neville Arena. Auburn jumped out to a 19-2 first-half lead against the Tigers of the SEC East, and from there the result was rarely in doubt. Auburn is back in the win column after an impressive 89-56 victory, as the road to the NCAA Tournament continues.
The students camped out, College Gameday was back in Neville Arena and Wendell Green Jr. scored a season-high 24 points, but Auburn could not stop the rolling of the Tide as Alabama secured another SEC win, 77-69.
It was another hostile environment, another physical and controversial contest and another loss for the Tigers Tuesday night. Auburn had a solid lead twice, but each slipped away as they surrendered their third straight game on the road, falling in College Station to Texas A&M 83-78.
It was a true “rock fight” between two of the best defenses in the country, but the Volunteers hit just a few more shots than the Tigers, ultimately taking the win 46-43 and keeping pace with Alabama in the SEC.
With Auburn basketball facing its toughest test yet when the Tigers face Tennessee tomorrow, Bruce Pearl and his staff have secured a big win off the court. Labaron Philon, the star point guard for Baker high school and the No. 1 player in Alabama, has committed to play at Auburn.
After two straight games with big first-half deficits, No. 25 Auburn (17-5, 6-2 SEC) rode an 18-point halftime lead of its own on the way to a big victory over Georgia (14-8, 4-5 SEC) getting revenge on the Bulldogs to the tune of 94-73 Wednesday night.
The duo of Johni Broome and Wendell Green Jr. has led the Tigers throughout the season and it was more of the same today in Columbia. The duo earned a pair of double-doubles as Auburn took down the Gamecocks on their home turf, 81-66.
For the second time this season and the first time on the road, the Auburn defense held a team to under 50 points. The No. 16 Tigers of the Plains took care of the Bayou Bengals of LSU (12-6, 1-5 SEC) and cruised to a 67-49 victory behind a suffocating defense and another solid performance from the duo of Wendell Green Jr. and Jaylin Williams.
Saturday, Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl reiterated his support for Israel on social media by declaring his approval of the Jewish state giving $39 million in tax revenues to the victims of terrorism instead of terrorist "martyrs."
In a day filled with upsets and blowouts across the SEC, the No . 21 Auburn Tigers came close against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, but ultimately prevailed 69-63 in front of a vintage Neville Arena crowd.
It was not always pretty, with the Tigers even trailing at halftime, but Bruce Pearl’s offense came alive in the second half and helped secure the 82-73 victory over Ole Miss(8-8, 0-4 SEC).
Classes have not even started, students are still enjoying their winter breaks, but when Wendell Green Jr. opened the game with a four-point play, there was a sense of something different in the air of Neville Arena. It was not a perfect game from the Tigers, but Auburn’s game plan was sound and the Jungle roared once again as the Tigers took down the No. 13 Razorbacks 72-59.
There were no late-game heroics from Wendell Green Jr. this time at Stegeman, as the Auburn faithful in Athens and at home watched as the Bulldogs dismantled the Tigers 76-64. Mike White is now 7-3 against Bruce Pearl in the SEC and has his first signature win at Georgia.