12/29/22 Articles

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[aubiefifty 16,777]

 

[aubiefifty 16,777]

 

[aubiefifty 16,777]

Bracketology: Joe Lunardi releases SEC NCAA Tournament preview as conference play tips off

Ethan Stone

1–2 minutes

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Eleven SEC programs are set to tip off their conference schedule Wednesday night. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, in turn, released an SEC conference preview Wednesday afternoon projecting  the conference’s chances at reaching the NCAA Tournament.

Lunardi projects 7 SEC teams to make the tournament as of now: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Missouri. He has Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama as locks for the 68-team field, also labeling all 3 as potential Final Four contenders.

Alabama and Tennessee have been the most impressive teams in the conference thus far. The Tide have beaten Houston, Memphis and North Carolina and only lost to UConn and Gonzaga. Tennessee downed Kansas and Maryland with losses to Arizona and Colorado.

Mizzou is the bubble team Lunardi has in the tournament as of now. The Tigers just picked up a massive win over Illinois to really strengthen their resume heading into March.

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Social Media reacts to Auburn's dramatic win over Florida

JD McCarthy

~3 minutes

It was far from easy but No. 23 Auburn opened SEC play with a win Wednesday night, taking down the Florida Gators 61-58.

It was a back-and-forth affair inside an electric Neville Arena, the Tigers led 59-58 with under 30 seconds to play but a Jaylin Williams turnover gave the Gators a chance to pull off the upset.

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Chris Moore made sure that didn’t happen, stealing the ball and finding Wendell Green Jr. for a layup to seal the win.

The Tigers are now 11-2 on the season and 1-0 in SEC play. With yet another dramatic win the Tigers had social media buzzing after the game, here are the top reactions.

OMG!!!! Ugly but I'll take it! WDE!

— Chris Hough (@Auburntigers86) December 29, 2022

Still waiting on things to click with this Auburn basketball team, the youngsters really need to step it up for AU to be able to make a run in Feb-March.

— WillOfFortune11 (@WFortune78) December 29, 2022

Auburn Basketball. Welcome To The Jungle.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 29, 2022

When did SEC Basketball get so good? This Florida / Auburn game has been such a fun watch

— aaron (@servant_117) December 29, 2022

I know the game sucked and we looked bad but it can not be stated enough how impressive Johni Broome played against a top 5 center in the SEC. He had a hell of a game and was the reason we won tonight. 1-0 in SEC play. Let’s go

— Chase Lee (@clee1921) December 29, 2022

The goat saving us, nothing new

— Johni Broome Fan Account (@JPScottIV) December 29, 2022

Chris Moore had a great game. Makes all the smart little plays. Which all go away when a couple of guys come off our bench unfortunately

— jeramye (@jeramye) December 29, 2022

Chris Moore stepping up to the plate when no one picked him to be the starting small forward has been huge. The guy brings an energy this team needs

— Alex Husting (@AlexHusting) December 29, 2022

Neither my heart nor my liver are healthy enough for this brand of Auburn Basketball.

— Captain Friendly (@Capt_Friendly) December 29, 2022

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5 takeaways from Auburn's SEC-opening win over Florida

Nathan King

7–8 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama — Bruce Pearl said earlier in the year, when his former assistant Todd Golden was hired as Florida’s head coach, that he would dread future matchups with the Gators. He knows first-hand how good a coach Golden is.

And the former Auburn assistant coach proved it in his SEC debut.

The No. 20 Tigers were in a dogfight all evening but prevailed thanks to a late defensive stopping, winning their SEC opener over Florida, 61-58.

"The league is going to be a rock fight," Pearl said postgame.

Here are Auburn Undercover’s immediate takeaways.

Auburn wins thriller in final seconds

A Zep Jasper steal led to a breakaway Allen Flanigan dunk, and the game was knotted at 54-all at the game's final media timeout. Auburn then took advantage of a missed free throw by Gators guard Trey Bonham, as Wendell Green Jr. pushed the ball up the floor and dumped it off to Johni Broome, who hammered a two-handed dunk over Colin Castleton to give the Tigers the lead.

Broome scored again on a great feed from K.D. Johnson with just over a minute left, handing a 59-58 lead back to Auburn.

Auburn had a chance to pad the lead, but a Jaylin Williams pass was intercepted by Alex Fudge. Golden called timeout, and the Gators drew up a play with 18 seconds left, trailing by 1.

Castleton lost the ball, though, on a drive, and Chris Moore pushed it ahead to Green Jr. for a score, securing the win.

"It was crazy," Green Jr. said. "We had a turnover right before. We were up one. We had a good play but just a turnover, unfortunate. And we knew we just had to get a stop. That was the main thing and C-Mo (Moore) — he’s been playing great all year defensively, offensively — he got a steal. I’d seen him get it and I just wanted to go as fast as I could and get a layup."

Auburn wins its SEC opener over Florida. The finish: pic.twitter.com/2MyKDLdO58

— Nathan King (@NathanKing247) December 29, 2022

Green Jr.’s impact

As strong as backup point guard and freshman Tre Donaldson as been of late, the Tigers were buoyed at key points by their floor general.

Green Jr. hit a 3-pointer to end the first half, then had seven of Auburn’s first nine points to open the second half, including two separate trips to the free-throw line when he was fouled on 3-point attempts.

"They told me to just turn it up a notch so we could get back going," Green Jr. said. "And that’s what I tried to do to start the second half off."

The junior certainly looks healthy after his ankle injury a few games ago, dropping 14 points and grabbing five rebounds Wednesday night.

"Wendell's just a winner," Pearl said. "Wendell's just a winner, and a tough kid."

Tigers skid to end first half

Florida went 8:13 of game time without a made basket — nearly half of the entire opening half. Surely Auburn led at halftime, then?

Instead, Auburn’s double-digit turnovers in the first half compounded on inconsistent offense. The Tigers led for the majority of the first half, but the basket that broke Florida’s long dry spell gave the Gators a 22-20 lead. Florida then extended that into a quick 8-0 run, as Neville Arena groaned in frustration.

Green Jr. hit a 3-ball as time expired in the first half, but Auburn still missed 11 of its final 13 shots of the half, and had six turnovers in the final seven minutes.

Auburn shored up its turnover troubles in the second half, though, with only four after halftime.

"We've got to do a better job taking care of the ball," Pearl said. "We're gonna have to be a team that just has to guard people, because, unfortunately, offense has been difficult all year. So we're gonna keep working on it. But I thought we got some shots inside that we need to make."

Broome bests Castleton

After averaging 21.5 points across two meetings against Auburn last season, Castleton was held in check Wednesday night.

The veteran Florida big man had eight rebounds but shot 1-for-6 from the floor, with 6 points.

Auburn kept him from catching the ball close to the basket, and he had to mostly drive to the hoop in order to get to his spots. Dylan Cardwell also blocked him on a drive in the first half. The fifth-year senior’s first basket didn’t come until a pick-and-roll lob on Florida’s first possession of the second half.

It burned Auburn a couple times because of Castleton’s vision, but the Tigers often deployed a double team on the Gators’ first team All-SEC center.

Broome won the matchup, pouring in 14 points and grabbing 11 boards for his second double-double of the season — and he led Auburn in assists with four. Broome shot 6-of-13 from the floor, including two big baskets in the final minutes, and Auburn appeared to miss him offensively in the first half when he was hit with his second foul more than six minutes until the break.

"You know, coming into the game, coming into Auburn, those are one of the game you had circled on the calendar," Broome said. "Good matchup. He’s a good player. But the main goal of the game plan was to stop him. And as you can see, 1-for-6. Not letting him get the ball was pretty big too. When he gets the ball, making his shot tough, and that’s what we did tonight."

Broome’s effectiveness on the glass helped Auburn win the rebounding battle, 40-28, leading to 12 second-chance points for the Tigers.

"Johni knows how to act and feel and play like the best player on the floor," Pearl said. "Because when he was at Morehead State, he did that for a couple of years. He knows how to do that every night. He knows how to prepare that way, act that way, play that way. Now he's translating it to the SEC level, really, in the last few games. Very excited about that. Look, Castleton is one of the best offensive centers in the league. He was first team all-conference. Johni and Dylan won the matchup. Huge."

An 'emotional' reunion for Pearl

Wednesday marked the first head-coaching matchup for Pearl against Golden, who was an assistant for him with the Tigers from 2014-16.

Golden left Auburn to become an assistant at San Francisco, and was eventually named the head coach there in 2019. He took the Dons to the NCAA tournament last season.

"Going up against Todd was very emotional for me," Pearl said. "I was emotional seeing him before the game. I got emotional on the radio. I love Todd like a son. He came out here, put his faith in me and his trust in me. He was engaged to be married and got married the first summer he was here. I saw him as a newlywed, with his beautiful bride. He had his first child here. He bought his first home here. I know his parents and his family. And he's Steven (Pearl) is his best friend, for life. So I root for him."

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Tigers make clutch plays to defeat Gators 61-58

Mark Murphy

6–8 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–With Florida looking to hit a game-winning shot while down by a point, Chris Moore stole the basketball from Gator star Colin Castleton with help from Jaylin Williams. Wendell Green then scored on a fastbreak to give Auburn a hard-fought 61-58 victory over the Gators on Wednesday night.

It was the SEC opener for both teams. The 20th-ranked Tigers improved to 11-2 as they rallied for their 26th consecutive victory at Neville Arena with the last loss vs. Florida in 2021. To do that the Tigers hit five of their final seven shots on a night they shot just 38.4 percent from the field.

Auburn overcame that by pulling in 40 rebounds, 12 more than the Gators. That helped the home team overcome being outscored 16-13 in points off of turnovers.

Johni Broome out-played preseason All-SEC center Castleton. Broome finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds while dishing out four assists. Castleton made 1-6 field goals for six points to go with eight rebounds.

"I was just doing what my team needed me to do–score, rebound, block shots," said the first-year Tiger, who noted it was an exciting game. "We played good defense to win this."

Coach Bruce Pearl called Broome's performance "huge" and said it was a "big-time message sent." Broome pulled in five offensive rebounds, six defensive rebounds and blocked a shot.

Before the game Pearl challenged his team to control Castleton, who had caused the Tigers major problems last season.  "I think Johni responded," Pearl said. "Keep in mind that against the National Defensive Player of the Year (last season, Auburn's Walker Kessler), especially at Florida, he scored pretty well. Obviously, tonight he didn't against Johni and Dylan (Cardwell). I'm glad Johni took that personally. I'm glad he did, that's what players should (do). I love it. I mean, I'm on him, and I ain't getting off him. He's gotten a lot better, his energy, his effectiveness. Obviously, I trust him."

The Tigers got 14 points and five rebounds from Green plus 13 from Williams, who gave the home crowd a scare with a bad pass that was stolen by Alex Fudge with 25 seconds left, setting up the Gators for the potential game-winning shot. 

“That was a rock fight," Pearl said.  "It couldn’t have been easy to call." He said both teams played strong defense, played hard and had scouted each other very well. "I thought our size and physicality was a factor," Pearl added.

Chris Moore scored six points in the first half, including two on this dunk. (Photo: Jason Caldwell, 247Sports)

Auburn scored the first seven points to open the game and led most of the period, but an 8-0 run late in the closing minutes of the half put the Gators up 26-23 at intermission.

Neither team shot well in the first half, but Florida was better. The Gators hit 8-22 field goals (36.4 percent) to Auburn’s 8-28 (28.6 percent). The Gators were 1-8 on threes and 9-10 at the foul line while Auburn hit 2-6 threes and 5-8 free throws in the half.

Auburn’s other first half issue was a dozen turnovers, which helped negate the Tigers holding a 22-15 rebounding advantage, including an 11-3 edge in offensive rebounds. The Gators turned the ball over eight times in the first period.

AU's shooting improved with the home team making 48.1 percent of its second-half shots.cAuburn also a much better job of handling the ball in the second half with just three turnovers. "We have got to do a better job of taking care of the ball," Pearl said. "We are just going to have to be a team that is just going to have to guard people because, unfortunately, offense has been difficult all year. We are going to keep working on it, but I thought we got some shots inside we need to make."

For the game Auburn made 21-55 field goals, 3-14 threes and 16-24 free throws.  Florida hit 19-47 field goals (40.4 percent), 3-19 treys and 17-19 free throws.

"In the second half I wanted to come out and bring a different energy than I had in the second half," Green said. The point guard said the Tigers made the right adjustments at halftime, getting the ball to the big men in places where they wanted it and scoring on kick-out passes from the big men.

Green said the Tigers appreciated the 31st consecutive sellout crowd helping spark his team to a comeback victory. Other than opening night, he said was the loudest crowd of the season so far even though most of the students are on a holiday break.

Pearl praised the crowd and said that junior forward Moore gave the Tigers a tremendous game with his hustle at both ends of the court. Moore hit 3-6 field goals, 2-3 free throws, pulled in three rebounds while adding three steals, one assist and a blocked shot. "I thought Chris Moore was so good. He did so many little things."

Florda got 15 points off the bench from Kowacie Reeves, who hit 7-14 shots. Also coming off the bench, Myreon Jones added 10 points.

Box Score

Stat of the Game: The Tigers finished plus 12 in rebounding margin. 

Playing 😧 The Gators are the fifth Auburn opponent that failed to score 60 points vs. the Tigers.

Worth Noting, Part 1: Auburn finished with 16 assists to nine for the Gators.

Worth Noting Part 2: Pearl continued a season-long theme of saying that Williams needs to take charge on the court, although he noted the senior forward is probably not 100 percent physically due to his shoulder injury at Southern Cal. "Mentally, I need Jaylin Williams to start games and go, 'I am as good as anybody out here' and play like it. Take shots, make plays and he did down the stretch." Williams hit 5-11 field goals, 1-3 treys, 2-2 at the free throw line and pulled in two rebounds while adding one assist, one steal and four turnovers.

Coach vs. Mentor: Pearl said it was "emotional" going against Florida coach Todd Golden, a former AU assistant from 2014-16 and someone Pearl coached. "I love Todd like a son," said Pearl, who noted that Golden got married while living in Auburn, bought his first house in Auburn and saw his first child born in Auburn in addition to being the best friend of his son, Steven Pearl.  "There is absolutely no joy in beating him," said Auburn's head coach, who added, "I would have been upset if we lost because it was a game we had to have."

20COMMENTS

Plus/Minus: Auburn outscored the Gators by 10 points when Broome was on the court and by nine points when Moore and Zep Jasper were on the court.

Up Next: The Tigers will travel to Athens next Wednesday to play the Georgia Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 5;30 p.m. CST.

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