12/2/22 articles

[aubiefifty 16,798]

Block party awaits when No. 15 Auburn plays host to Colgate

Auburn University Athletics

7–9 minutes

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AUBURN, Ala. – Last year, Walker Kessler set the Auburn single-season record with 155 blocks. It was the seventh most in SEC history. He's now in the NBA. And yet, through seven games, the Tigers have blocked 13 more shots this year than they did a year ago. 

That's because of Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell, Auburn's frontcourt duo who currently ranks fourth (Broome, 16.67) and fifth (Cardwell, 16.28) nationally in block percentage. 

In fact, the Tigers lead the nation in blocks per game (8.3) this season. Broome is third with 3.7 blocks per game, and Cardwell ranks ninth with 2.9 blocks per game. 

"It helps," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "Obviously, they do a great job with their verticality. We teach it, they drill it. The challenge, though, is the backside rebounding. The challenge is if they leave, they're going to block shots and they're leaving the back side. So, our rotation on the backside -- or rebounding down as we call it -- is important."

Cardwell, in particular, has taken a big leap this season, and he credits some of that improvement t0 playing behind and learning from Kessler last year. 

"I learned a lot," Cardwell said. "I learned when not to jump. I learned when to jump. He made a lot of non-business decisions, but he didn't get dunked on that many times. He had no fear when jumping. I second guess a little bit. If somebody is already up, I'm not going to jump late. But that's something I did learn. Just jump with no fear. If you get dunked on, you're still going to get drafted one day. He was a fearless jumper, and he still is."

"Obviously, his rim protection, his ability to switch and guard guards and stay in front – for a man his size, Dylan is as athletic as anybody in college basketball," Pearl said. 

Cardwell, Broome and the rest of the Tigers will be back in action Friday night when Auburn hosts Colgate in Neville Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7:01 p.m. CT. Andy Burcham and Sonny Smith will have the radio call on 93.9 Tiger FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the TuneIn app. The game will also be streamed exclusively on SEC Network+.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. CT. The arena lot, stadium deck and Plainsman Park lots will be reserved at 8 a.m. due to the Super 7. Please note that there will be a lot of activity and traffic around Neville Arena due to the Super 7 and high school S&D state championships.

PLAYER TO WATCH: ALLEN FLANIGAN

Allen Flanigan has had a strong start to his senior campaign thus far. Having played in 87 career games, he tied his career high with 10 rebounds against Saint Louis on Sunday. It matched his previous best of 10 boards versus Arkansas on Dec. 30, 2020. Coming off the bench, Flanigan is currently fifth on the team in scoring (8.3 ppg), fourth in rebounding (4.7) and has made the second-most 3-pointers (8) on the team, shooting at a 34.8 percent clip.

INSIDE THE SERIES: COLGATE

Auburn leads 1-0 in the all-time series with Colgate. The lone came on Nov. 18, 2019. All five starters scored in double figures, led by 20 points from Samir Doughty, and the Tigers ran away with a 91-62 victory at Auburn Arena (now Neville Arena). 

The Tigers are 7-1 lifetime versus Patriot League opponents having faced Colgate (1-0), Lehigh (1-0) and Navy (5-1).

TAKING AWAY THE TREYS

Colgate is one of the top 3-point shooting ballclubs in the country (16th nationally) with a 40.4 percent accuracy (91 of 225 attempts) this season. Auburn is holding opponents to 23.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc and just 4.6 3s a contest. Its 3-point defense ranks fourth best in the nation and tops in the SEC. The Tigers have also held three opponents without a 3-point field goal in one half this season: USF, Texas Southern, Northwestern. 

Players Mentioned

#13 Walker Kessler

F/C 7' 1" Sophomore

#44 Dylan Cardwell

C 6' 11" Junior

#22 Allen Flanigan

G 6' 6" Senior

#4 Johni Broome

F 6' 10" Sophomore

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Auburn basketball notes & quotes: Tigers facing high-scoring opponent

Mark Murphy

5–6 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–In its final game before taking a break for fall semester final exams, Coach Bruce Pearl’s Auburn basketball team will try to stay unbeaten by handling what is expected to be a barrage of three-point bombs sent their way by the Colgate Raiders. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CST on Friday at Neville Arena with the game being streamed on SEC+ and ESPN+.

Picked to win the Patriot League for a third consecutive year, Colgate has been and up and down so far this season. The Raiders will bring a 5-4 record into the matchup following a 92-58 neutral site victory over 92-58 Hartford.

Colgate’s most impressive victory so far featured 19 made three-pointers in 39 attempts in an 80-68 victory at Syracuse. The Raiders are averaging 10.1 made three-pointers per game while connecting on 40.4 percent of their treys, which ranks 16th nationally.

“We are playing one of the top teams in the country in three-point field goal shooting, which means we are pressing up,” Pearl said. “That is going to be really important for our game against Colgate. They are the best three-point shooting team we will play all year long.”

The coach said that Colgate gets it looks on three-balls in a variety of ways on drive and dish plays, in transition on fastbreaks and grabbing offensive rebounds and then finding an opener shooter to pass to who is set up behind the three-point line.

“They are kind of a dangerous team,” Pearl said. “They have got four starters who are fifth-year senior guys that are older. They are picked to win the Patriot League and they have won the league the last couple of years. We are bigger, we are better, but you play teams that have championships DNA, they know how to win. They know how to compete.”

The Raiders have four starters scoring in double figures led by 6-5, 215 senior guard Tucker Richardson, who is averaging 16.5 points, 5.2 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals. He was voted the preseason player of the year and top defensive player on the year in the Patriot League.

The top rebounder for Colgate is 6-10, 250 senior Keegan Records, who is averaging 11 points and 6.4 rebounds. Two other seniors in the starting lineup are 6-7, 220 forward Ryan Moffatt (12.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists) and 6-2, 190 guard Oliver Lynch-Daniels (11.3 points, 27 rebounds).

The point guard is 6-0, 180 freshman Braeden Smith, who is averaging 9.7 points, 5.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds.

Auburn junior center Dylan Cardwell said that with Colgate being a veteran team he is expecting a physical game on Friday. “They are going to come in here being really good at running their stuff, running their plays,” he said.

Cardwell said the Raiders pass the ball well and don’t have many turnovers. Colgate has a 1.4-1 assists to turnover ratio. 

Senior Allen Flanigan said, “They are going to put five guys out there on the floor that can shoot the ball.”

Colgate opened on the road and lost 88-87 at Buffalo before winning three straight at Brown (87-68), at home in Hamilton, N.Y., vs. Wells (93-60) and at Syracuse (80-68). The Raiders then lost a neutral site game to Duquesne (85-80) before winning at home vs. Monmouth (85-66). Playing three times at Philadelphia the Raiders lost 72-68 to Delaware and 81-69 to Penn prior to defeating Hartford by 34 points.

Auburn’s last game was a 65-60 home victory over Saint Louis, which Pearl said was the toughest opponent the Tigers have faced so far this season. Following the Colgate game the Tigers won’t play again until Dec. 10th when they take on Memphis at the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta.

Bruce Pearl Video

Hoops Notes: In the only previous game vs. Colgate the Tigers took a 91-62 victory at Auburn on Nov. 18, 2019. Pearl said the Tigers played about as well as they could in that contest...AU is 7-1 all-time in games vs. teams in the Patriot League with the only loss against Navy...Auburn is allowing 56.9 points per game, which ranks 15th nationally...The Tigers have won 43 consecutive home games vs. non-conference opponents. In all games the Tigers have won 23 consecutive home contests, which is the fourth longest streak in Division I behind  Gonzaga (69), Texas Tech (25) and Kentucky (24)...Auburn’s 7-0 start is the best under Pearl other than the 15-0 start for the 2019-20 team that had its season cut short by the pandemic...The Tigers are allowing opponents an average of 4.6 threes per contest and 23.7 percent shooting behind the three-point line.

SEC Team Records

Missouri 8-0

Auburn 7-0

Mississippi State 7-0

Arkansas 6-1

Alabama 6-1

LSU 6-1

Ole Miss 6-1

Tennessee 6-1

Georgia 6-2

Kentucky 5-2

Texas A&M 5-2

Florida 5-3

South Carolina 3-4

Vanderbilt 3-4

">247Sports

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Bruce Pearl is excited about Auburn hiring Hugh Freeze

Published: Dec. 01, 2022, 4:45 p.m.

~4 minutes

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Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze speaks during his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Nov. 29 2022 in Auburn, Ala. Todd Van Emst/AU AthleticsTodd Van Emst/AU Athletics/AU At

By

• Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com

Auburn head football coach Hugh Freeze received a ringing endorsement from one of the most famous men on campus. As a head basketball coach, Bruce Pearl is in his ninth season on the Plains. Pearl smiled when a reporter asked him Thursday about athletic director John Cohen hiring Freeze.

“I just think that Hugh is going to be a great fit for Auburn,” Pearl said. “He understands the SEC. He’s won and beaten teams that were more talented than he’s been. He’s going to hire a great staff. He’s got an incredible family. He’s a wonderful Christian man. He’s asked for grace (and) he’s going to be given grace here in this Christian community of Auburn. I’m thrilled that this leadership team is in place, and I look forward to working with him.”

Freeze’s hire caused a backlash amongst a segment of fans because of previous accusations of sexual misconduct going back to his days as a high school coach in Memphis and his calling an escort service from his work phone leading to his dismissal at Ole Miss.

Read More Auburn Football: AD John Cohen: Hugh Freeze ‘completely transparent’ during Auburn search

Cadillac Williams ‘disappointed’ but ‘not upset’ after interviewing for Auburn head coaching job

Hugh Freeze denies report he had to relinquish control of Twitter account with Auburn

Another issue with Freeze arose last weekend when unsolicited direct messages to Chelsea Andrews that were sent in July resurfaced during the Iron Bowl. Andrews is a former Liberty student who is part of a lawsuit against the university for its handling of sexual assault accusations.

Freeze sent the messages after she publicly criticized former Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw, who hired Freeze as the Liberty head coach.

Freeze apologized for the messages in an ESPN interview despite saying in the introductory press conference that he was unaware of the backlash.

“I learned from this situation that I should totally understand other people’s circumstances first before communicating or commenting on someone’s situation,” Freeze told ESPN. “It was an inadvertent misstep with no ill intent, and I am sorry.”

Pearl repeatedly says he believes in opportunities for redemption. He believes Freeze will do well at Auburn as a football coach.

“I talked to him a little bit last night. I tried to keep it short because I know he’s got a lot on his plate, but I’m so excited for him,” Pearl said. “I think that we’ve just had like three incredible hires within the last six months. I think President(Dr. Chris) Roberts -- the fact that he’s been here for so long in so many different capacities and did what he did with the college of engineering, we are in great hands there.”

Pearl believes in the vision of Roberts and Cohen. Time will tell if he’s right.

“He hired a great AD in John Cohen, who gets the Auburn culture, who has reinvited the term, ‘that’s Auburn being Auburn.,’” Pearl said. “We’re starting to talk about ‘that’s Auburn being Auburn’ in terms of the of Texas A&M football game, or what Cadillac Willims did turning our team around. That’s Auburn being Auburn.”

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