aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 247sports.com Broome and Tigers blast Gators to take the title Jason Caldwell 5–6 minutes NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Five years to the day from when the confetti rained down on Jared Harper, Bryce Brown and that Final Four-bound squad, the Tigers celebrated in Bridgestone Arena again. Completing its three-game run in Nashville, fourth-seeded Auburn use a huge second-half surge to take down No. 6 seed Florida 86-67 on Sunday afternoon and win its second SEC Tournament title under Bruce Pearl, and its fourth conference title overall over the past seven seasons. Here are Auburn Undercover's instant impressions, as the Tigers — heavily projected as a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament entering the day — now await their March Madness draw in just a few hours in the selection show. TIGERS’ DEFENSE LOCKS DOWN, GATORS STORM BACK An electric offense over the past few weeks, Florida missed 14 of its first 16 shots from the floor, as the Tigers locked down defensively. Auburn’s wing defenders ran the Gators off the 3-point line — and Florida didn’t make a triple until three minutes into the second half anyway, missing its first seven looks from beyond the arc after shooting a season-high 54 percent from deep the day before against Texas A&M. Florida’s best offense was the free-throw line, where it entered the bonus with 8:29 left in the first half. The Gators got 11 of their first 21 points in the game from the foul line. Auburn felt close to breaking the game open a few times — an open K.D. Johnson 3-pointer in transition would have pushed its lead to 15 — but continually came up just short of blowing the roof off a very pro-Auburn building at Bridgestone Arena. Florida then ripped off a quick 9-2 run to gather some momentum for what felt like the first time all game. Auburn still led by 8 at halftime, but the Gators scored 11 of the final 17 points in the first half, and 14 of the first 21 points in the second half. TIGERS MAKE SECOND-HALF SURGE TO WIN TITLE Auburn responded with a massive sequence to regain an 8-point lead. Florida had possession in a 1-point game after making five of its last six shots from the floor. Instead, Chris Moore got a steal-and-score in transition, Florida’s Zyon Pullin went 0-for-2 at the foul line, Tre Donaldson hit a 3-pointer then snatched a steal and fed the ball ahead to Denver Jones for a transition dunk. Todd Golden called timeout as Bridgestone Arena exploded into a deafening roar with 14 minutes left in the game. Jones scored all 11 of his points after halftime. Johni Broome finished as Auburn's top scorer with 18 points and 11 boards in a double-double. Auburn built its lead to as large as 21 points, shooting 61 percent from the floor overall in the second half. After the Gators brought it to a 1-point game, Auburn made 13 of its next 15 shots. The Gators never solved Auburn's defense from beyond the arc, finishing just 1-of-13 from deep. DONALDSON, MOORE IN TOURNAMENT MODE Two of Auburn’s reserves continue to play some of their best basketball of the season in tournament time. In Auburn’s three SEC Tournament games, point guard Tre Donaldson went 4-of-6 from deep, and wing/forward Chris Moore has provided a huge spark of energy as a defender and rebounder, finishing a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor in Nashville, plus six rebounds Sunday. FOUL DISCREPANCY Auburn had seven fouls in the second half before the Gators were called for their first, and Florida entered the bonus with 13:05 left in the game. It didn’t matter much down the stretch. Florida went 18-of-25 from the foul line for the game compared to 18-of-22 for the Tigers. HORRIFYING INJURY LEAVES GATORS STUNNED With 17:39 left in the first half, Gators center Micah Handlogten went down awkwardly going for a rebound and suffered a gruesome leg injury. Bridgestone Arena went dead silent as a stretcher was brought out. A Florida staff member went into the stands to bring Handlogten’s mom onto the floor. Auburn’s players and coaches prayed on their bench. Chad Baker-Mazara’s mouth hung wide open for a couple minutes as he sat in shock. Handlogten was lifted on the stretch and transported to Vanderbilt’s hospital a few minutes later, as Florida’s entire team came over to see him. Arena staffers had to clean blood off the court, apparently from Handlogten’s leg. Florida’s second-leading rebounder this season, Handlogten was a defensive menace in the Gators’ regular-season win over Auburn, with five blocks and three steals. Florida was already without Riley Kugel, who had 22 points against Auburn in the first meeting. Kugel was out for undisclosed reasons, as Golden didn’t mention it postgame after he missed the Gators’ semifinal win over Texas A&M, too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 auburnwire.usatoday.com Recap: Auburn gets revenge, cuts down the nets in Nashville Brian Hauch ~3 minutes The Auburn Tigers are your 2023-2024 SEC Tournament Champions. Bruce Pearl challenged his team to win nine games in a row before its SEC Tournament opener on Friday and Johni Broome and company have responded by notching the first three. While it wasn’t quite Neville Arena, Sunday’s championship against Florida felt like a home game in “Auburn North”. The Auburn family brought the energy inside Bridgestone Arena from the get-go, although the building did calm down significantly following a gruesome leg injury suffered by Florida center Micah Handlogten. Handlogten was ultimately stretchered off, and the energy returned to the tune of Auburn defensively disrupting a potent Gators offense en route to a 38-30 halftime lead. Mark Clayton Jr. and the rest of the Gator offense managed to cut the Auburn lead to a single point quickly into the second half, getting the score to 45-44 within the first four minutes. Guard Trae Donaldson quickly responded by knocking down a “parking lot” 3-point shot then stealing a Clayton Jr. pass on the other end that turned into a Denver Jones transition dunk. From that moment on it was all Auburn. The Tigers outscored Florida 41-27 from that point on. The Championship was in hand by the under 4:00 timeout. While Donaldson had a massive impact off the bench, the star of the afternoon was none other than forward Johni Broome, who picked up his second double-double of the SEC Tournament. The Junior led all scorers in the game with 19 points while also providing 3 blocks on the defensive end. Forwards Jaylin Williams, Chris Moore, Chaney Johnson, and Dylan Cardwell also played fantastic minutes against a tall Florida front court. Auburn’s 86-67 win continues a trend of dominance we’ve seen from Auburn this season. Every Tigers win has come by double-digits other than one. The Tigers have every chance to run the table again in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll see who they’ll face in a few short hours. 2024 SEC Tournament Champions🏆 pic.twitter.com/pzQ59Xocdg — Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 17, 2024 Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter @TheRealBHauch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 si.com Takeaways: Auburn beat Florida 86-67 to win SEC Tournament Championship Daniel Locke ~2 minutes The No. 12 (No. 4 seed) Auburn Tigers beat the No. 6 seed Florida Gators 86-67 in the SEC Tournament Championship game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., this afternoon. Auburn got out in front early. Florida made it competitive in the second half and even cut Auburn's lead to one, but a 12-2 run at that point put the Tigers in the driver's seat and they never lost the momentum. What are the biggest things to take away from the game? Auburn got out-rebounded again For the second game in a row, the Tigers were out-rebounded by their opponent. Both teams had 39 rebounds, but Florida had a 13-6 advantage on the offensive side, but Auburn had a 33-26 advantage on the defensive side. Second-chance points were a factor as well... Fouls plagued Auburn The Tigers struggled to stay out of foul trouble. With 15 minutes left in the game, Chad Baker-Mazara, Chaney Johnson and Jaylin Williams each had three fouls. Florida was capitalizing on these fouls as well, shooting 18-25 from the free-throw line. The Gators were also in the bonus at the 13:05 mark of the second half. Auburn will need to avoid a fouling performance like that in its NCAA Tournament games or that could be the thing that sends it home. Auburn shared the load offensively The Tigers once again had a lot of contributors on the offensive end. Johni Broome led Auburn in scoring with 19 points, but two other Tigers posted double figures and six others scored more than five points. Depth has been one of Auburn's biggest strengths this season and that was proven to be true once again today. What's Next? The Tigers will find out their region, seeding, and first round opponent in the NCAA Tournament during the Selection Show on ESPN today at 5 p.m. CT. Fouls caused us trouble? More like the refs tried every little thing in their bag of tricks to steal the game for florida. they were dirty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 saturdaydownsouth.com Auburn’s SEC championship run highlights biggest strength in NCAA Tournament Derek Peterson | 11 hours ago 6–7 minutes Auburn won the SEC Tournament on Sunday with an 86-67 win over the Florida Gators. The victory earned the Tigers their first conference tournament title since 2019 and secured a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Wait. A 4-seed? Surely that’s a misprint. Auburn was a No. 3 seed in Joe Lunardi’s bracket projection on Sunday morning… and then it won an SEC title with a dominant performance against Florida. As a 4-seed, the Tigers could face either San Diego State or UAB in the second round, potentially UConn in the Sweet 16, and then Big 12 champion Iowa State or Big Ten champ Illinois in the Elite Eight. The Huskies earned the top overall seed in the field. And UConn’s corner of the bracket features 4 of the 6 high-major conference tournament champions. Still, Auburn will be a popular pick. The Tigers opened as an 11.5-point favorite over Yale in the opening round (per FanDuel). The number was fluctuating in the hours following the bracket reveal, but Auburn was anywhere from +1500 to +1800 to win the national championship at most online sportsbook apps. During its run to the SEC title, Auburn’s depth shined. In the NCAA Tournament, that depth could prove to be massive. In Sunday’s win over Florida, 10 players were on the court for at least 15 minutes. Ten players played at least 10 minutes in the 73-66 win over Mississippi State on Saturday. And 10 players saw at least 13 minutes in the quarterfinal win over South Carolina on Friday. Auburn has a strong starting unit. Auburn also has a bench unit coach Bruce Pearl can throw into the thick of it without compromising his gameplan or jeopardizing a win. Auburn won’t be playing 3 games in 3 days, but when things are coming fast and furious in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament, being able to go deep into a bench is a massive advantage. “You can’t ask kids to play as hard as we play them and play them all game long,” Pearl said after Sunday’s win. “We talk about that in recruiting. Sure, there are still challenges. There are challenges during the course of the day about ‘get me the ball.’ … It’s give-and-take and it’s open. They understand where they’re at. They understand why they’re there. They do understand what their roles need to be.” On Sunday, Auburn raced out to an 8-point halftime lead on Florida. The Gators scored 14 points in the first 3 minutes of the second half to cut the lead all the way down to 1. But Auburn composed itself and stretched its lead back out to 11 over the next 4 minutes thanks to cold-blooded shooting from Tre Donaldson. Auburn never looked back. Playing its fourth game in as many days, Florida looked like it ran out of gas. “I feel like at that point, when they made their run, we had fresh new guys come in,” said guard Chad Baker-Mazara. “I feel like the guys who came in just turned it up a whole different notch. We executed, stayed calm, stayed composed.” Auburn had one more mini-run in it later in the game, too, with Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell powering a 12-2 run that ballooned the lead up to 21 points. “You heard the guys talking about the willingness to share it. A lot of guys want to play 35, they want all the shots. That’s fine. That’s fine. But it doesn’t always translate to winning and it doesn’t translate to having a great locker room,” said Pearl. “I guess it’s very much the sum of our parts.” Pearl talked about thanking Denver Jones for his patience, about how Donaldson and Aden Holloway would probably want to play 30-plus minutes a night, and about how Baker-Mazara could start but is willing to come off the bench. This Tigers squad seems to almost revel in the fact they are a championship team above all else. “Every game isn’t going to be the same way. That’s why this team is so good, because we can adapt,” said Broome. “If y’all want to have a shootout, we can have a shootout. If your guys want to rough it up a little bit, play more physical, we can do that, too.” Added Baker-Mazar: “I feel like when you have a 10-man team — really 11 — we all bring different types of things to the table. … We dictate the game for us. We just come out there and just listen to the coaches and just execute their plan.” The leader of the group only plays 24.8 minutes a game. Ten players have averaged at least 13.6 minutes a game over the course of the entire season. Nine players have seen the floor in all 33 games. The type of depth Pearl has built is rare and dangerous in the tournament. It’ll let one of the best defenses in basketball stay relentless for a full 40 minutes. It’ll make Auburn one of the least enjoyable teams to plan for. The Tigers are now 7-1 in neutral-site games played this season. Of their 26 wins, 25 of them have featured double-digit margins. They have an SEC championship trophy making its way back to campus, top-10 marks in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiencies (per KenPom), and a strong chance at making it to the program’s first Final Four since the 2018-19 season. TRENDING 58,148 READS 51,772 READS 23,016 READS Derek Peterson Derek Peterson comes to the Pac-12 after years of serving as a college football beat writer at Oklahoma and Nebraska. He's a firm believer that teams should never punt. Follow on Twitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 collegefootballnews.com NCAA Tournament East Region Breakdown: What To Know About Every Team Pete Fiutak 7–9 minutes NCAA Tournament East Region 1 UConn (Big East) 31-3 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 1 Positives: Size, shooting inside and out. A totally complete team. Concerns: Not terribly deep, doesn’t force enough turnovers. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Win the national title or bust One Key Thought: An absolutely devastating team that will roll to a second straight national title unless it goes dead cold. 16 Stetson (ASUN) 22-12 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 64 Positives: Great from 3, it’ll keep firing away. Doesn’t foul much, wonderful on the free throw line. Concerns: No depth whatsoever, doesn’t force enough turnovers. Doesn’t get to the line enough. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Round of 32 One Key Thought: Stop the three, stop the Hatters. Don’t let them hang around, and don’t turn this into a free throw contest. NCAA Tournament Breakdowns East Region | South Region Midwest Region | West Region 8 Florida Atlantic (AAC) 25-8 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 34 Positives: Veteran team that can score, score, score. Good from 3, outstanding on the boards. Concerns: Not enough blocks, defense gives up too many easy points. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Sweet 16 One Key Thought: After coming a shot away from playing for the national title, the expectations are there to go on a deep run. The scoring is there to be dangerous. 9 Northwestern (Big Ten) 21-11 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 40 Positives: Few teams are better at forcing turnovers. Great on the free throw line, among the best at the country at hitting the 3. Concerns: Banged up. It’s not a deep team and can’t afford any more bumps or bruises. Not a good shooting team on the inside. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Sweet 16 One Key Thought: The rest might do this team some good. Boo Buie is one of the most dangerous players in the tournament, but the starting five has to be in one piece. 5 San Diego State (Mountain West) 24-10 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 24 Positives: Experience, defense, one of the best veteran backcourts in the tournament. Jaedon LeDee is a force inside. Concerns: Brutally painful at times offensively. Awful from three, horribly slow starter. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Sweet 16 One Key Thought: This isn't last year’s team. The O bogs down too much and relies too much on LeDee, but the D, toughness, and experience will be a problem against anyone. 12 UAB (AAC) 22-11 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 53 Positives: A good scoring team on the inside, there’s a nice style of banging away on the boards, getting second chance points, and making a ton of free throws. Concerns: There's next to nothing happening from three. The D isn’t strong enough - it doesn’t force enough mistakes. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Round of 32 One Key Thought: Any team that can match the Blazers on the boards will roll. Pack it in on the inside, and everything will be fine. However, UAB can get on the move. 4 Auburn (SEC) 26-7 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 4 Positives: Phenomenal ball movement and scoring punch. Great on the free throw line. Concerns: Energy can never dip. Fouls WAY too much. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Get to the Final Four One Key Thought: It’s all about keeping the offense going. When the shooting percentage isn’t there, the machine breaks down. 13 Yale (Ivy) 21-9 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 50 Positives: Great size, lots of even distribution of points. Few mistakes, lots of scoring, great inside D. Concerns: Not deep. The starting five has to take over. Not enough happing from 3. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Round of 32 One Key Thought: The Ivy League tournament champ survived with a late rally and last second shot. It’s an Ivy - it doesn’t make mistakes and generates the good shot. 6 BYU (Big 12) 23-10 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 18 Positives: Good, sound, deep, and outstanding at moving the ball around. No. 2 in the nation in attempted 3s. Concerns: Not nearly the same team away from home. So many threes means no free throws. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Elite Eight One Key Thought: There are just enough good parts to go on a little run. If the threes aren’t dropping and BYU isn’t playing its style, there’s a problem. 11 Duquesne (Atlantic 10) 24-11 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 49 Positives: Great defensively, it’s an attacking team that forces a slew of mistakes. Great in transition. Concerns: Decent size, but not a lot happening on the boards. Not quite good enough from the field. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Round of 32 One Key Thought: A wonderful story, the Atlantic 10 champion can grind and needs to win on defense. It can’t get into a shooting match. 3 Illinois (Big Ten) 26-8 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 8 Positives: Lots of rebounds, lots of scoring punch. Terrance Shannon has Tournament MVP potential. Concerns: Defense is occasionally optional. NO turnovers forced. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Elite Eight One Key Thought: There’s enough scoring pop and talent inside and out to play with anyone, but that D will be a letdown at some point. 14 Morehead State (Ohio Valley) 26-8 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 56 Positives: One of the best Ds from 3 in the tournament. 5th in the nation in field goal D, amazing on the boards. Concerns: Not a lot of size and almost no depth. The D - for all the good things - doesn’t force mistakes. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Round of 32 One Key Thought: As long as it doesn’t play anyone who can score in bunches or get up and down the floor in a hurry, it can hang around. 7 Washington State (Pac-12) 24-9 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 29 Positives: Great defense - the best in the Pac-12 - especially against the 3. Lots of blocks, lots of rebounds. Concerns: Doesn't move the ball around well enough, just okay on the line. No steals. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Sweet 16 One Key Thought: A wonderful year as the second-best team in the Pac-12 for most of the run, the makeup is there defensively to win two games, But it can’t get into a scoring fight. 10 Drake (Missouri Valley) 28-6 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 44 Positives: No mistakes. It’s a tight team that doesn’t turn the ball over, wonderful shooting team inside and out. Concerns: The D has problems on the inside - there aren’t any blocks. Not a lot of depth. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Sweet 16 One Key Thought: For all of the love given to Indiana State, Drake was the more complete team in the Missouri Valley. It doesn’t screw up and hits all its free throws - if you’re looking for your second weekend sleeper, here you go. 2 Iowa State (Big 12) 27-7 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 6 Positives: Devastating defense that destroyed Houston. ATTACKS - forces a ton of mistakes. Concerns: The rebounds aren’t there and the 3 isn’t a big part of the picture. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Get to the Final Four One Key Thought: When it plays like it did in the Big 12 Championship, forget it - the D is too good. But the threes are too inconsistent. 15 South Dakota State (Summit) 22-12 CFN NCAA Tournament Team Ranking: 60 Positives: The team can score. Great from 3 and good on the inside, it’ll keep up the pace. Cleans up the rebounds on D. Concerns: Doesn’t do much on the run, mediocre defensively from 3. Realistic NCAA Tournament Goal: Round of 32 One Key Thought: The Jackrabbits won’t have a problem keeping up in a scoring fight, but a hot team from 3 will be a problem. NCAA Tournament Breakdowns East Region | South Region Midwest Region | West Region Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 wtvm.com Auburn annihilates Florida, 86-67, secures first SEC title since 2019 Josiah Berry ~2 minutes NASHVILLE, Tn. (WTVM) - The Auburn Men’s Basketball team wins its first SEC title since 2019 under head coach Bruce Pearl and is going dancing. The Tigers dominated the Gators 86-67 in Bridgestone Arena Sunday afternoon for the right to be called the kings of the SEC for the second time under Pearl. The game would be much of a defensive struggle for both the Gators and the Tigers in the first half of play. That would all change in the second half as Johni Broome would hit a couple of big-time shots to put the Tigers out in front during the second half of the contest. Broome would also reach 2000 career points in the game. Head coach Bruce Pearl could not contain his emotions as the final minutes faded away and the confetti rained down. He thanked his late father for being a motivation in his life, and for pushing him toward his goals. This sentiment is something that Pearl tells his players every day. TAKEAWAYS: The Tigers are one of the only teams to have a top-10 defensive proficiency and offensive proficiency. They are firing on all cylinders and any team they get matched up with in the NCAA tournament will have their hands full and should not take the Tigers lightly. UP NEXT: Tigers (4 seed) are matched up with Yale (13 seed) in the East Region in Spokane, Washington. They will play on Friday, March 22 for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Copyright 2024 WTVM. All rights reserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 theplainsman.com A decade of history: How Pearl led Auburn to unprecedented era of success Contributed by Auburn Athletics 14–17 minutes On March 18, 2014, Bruce Pearl stepped off the plane at Auburn University Regional Airport for the first time as the head coach of the Auburn Tigers. Five NCAA Tournament bids, two SEC regular-season championships, two SEC Tournament titles, a Final Four appearance and 200 wins later, the 10th anniversary of Pearl’s hiring arrived on March 18, 2024. Only two men’s basketball coaches stand ahead of Pearl in all-time wins at Auburn – Joel Eaves and Cliff Ellis. Only Sonny Smith took the Tigers to as many NCAA Tournaments as Pearl. The Tigers’ 24 weeks inside the top 10 of the AP Poll under Pearl are the most by an Auburn coach. For all the success Pearl has had on the Plains, his tenure at Auburn started out with humble beginnings as he began his rebuild of the struggling program. “People that know me know that I do care about history, know that I do care about Auburn being an everything school, and I do care about the fact that in men's basketball, we just weren't competitive,” Pearl said. “And I knew that Auburn was enjoying so much success in so many other places that I felt like we could, and I feel grateful and blessed that we are.” When Pearl was hired in 2014, he inherited a program that had not made the NCAA Tournament in 10 seasons. Many Auburn fans at the time were apathetic towards the men’s basketball program as the team continually finished near the bottom of the SEC standings. In the 2013-14 season, the year before Pearl arrived, Auburn Arena averaged over 3,000 empty seats per game. One of Pearl’s first objectives was to change the fans’ mindset about the program – his program. He went around campus, sitting in a dunk tank for charity, handing out food to students studying in the library and walking into lecture halls to promote his team’s inaugural “Pearl Jam” scrimmage before he coached a game. “I recognized that to win championships, you’ve got to win at home and you’ve got to win some on the road that you’re not supposed to win. And to do that you got to create a following,” Pearl said. “What happened first, the chicken or the egg? When teams are winning, fans are coming out. Here at Auburn, the fans came out to help us win.” The result of Pearl’s promotion was clear: in his first season, the program averaged over 2,000 more fans than the previous year. The effort Pearl put forth into getting fans excited about men’s basketball was not lost on his players. “It’s come such a long way, but I remember him just doing everything he could to just bring awareness to the men's basketball team,” said KT Harrell, a guard on Pearl’s first Auburn team. “So obviously where it is now, he deserves a lot of credit. Just what he's been able to build there.” KT Harrell hits a 3-pointer and gets fouled against LSU in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. (Wade Rackley / Auburn Athletics) Not only was Pearl promoting his own program, he was making an impact in the community, especially with causes near to his heart. “I feel like God has blessed us,” Pearl said. “And I feel it in so many ways. He's blessed us to give us this platform to be on and then it's not just to win more games, it's to serve. And so whether it be Bruce Pearl for the Children to benefit Children's Harbor, or the Bruce Pearl Family Foundation sponsoring out live to help people outlive their cancer.” The annual AUTLIVE game at Neville Arena benefits many different cancer treatment centers across Alabama. In addition, the Bruce Pearl Family Foundation assists families who are impacted by illness. Pearl’s impact, long before any NCAA Tournaments or SEC championships, was being felt in a big way in Auburn and around the state of Alabama. “Over the last two years, just the last two years alone, we've given away over half a million dollars to patients in the state of Alabama who are battling cancer and can't afford their copay are having a hard time paying a mortgage because they've had to miss some work because they're sick from the chemo. And, it's a great awareness campaign,” Pearl said. In Pearl’s first two seasons, his teams earned home wins over NCAA Tournament teams like Xavier in 2014 and Kentucky in January 2016 – the Tigers’ first win over the Wildcats since 2000. Additionally, Pearl’s team won three games in three days to advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals as a No. 13 seed in 2015, providing a glimpse of what was to come for Pearl’s program. Though each of Pearl’s first two teams finished with losing records, Pearl has often credited those initial squads for laying the foundation for the success to come. Harrell noted that the praise from Pearl was not just words, but actions. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Auburn Plainsman delivered to your inbox “He did an amazing job of making me and my teammates feel like we were the foundation,” Harrell said. “If he talks about his first team, he always mentions it…He still does talk about that first team, so it was something special to be a part of.” Following the renewed fan interest in his program, Pearl began to attract top talent to the Plains. It began with 5-star center and Auburn legacy Austin Wiley, who turned down other schools to follow in his parents’ footsteps and play for Auburn. Pearl gave Wiley much credit for coming to the Plains, igniting an era of recruiting success for the Tigers. In the same class as Wiley was 5-star small forward Mustapha Heron, who was Auburn’s highest-rated recruit ever at the time, according to 247Sports. Despite Auburn not having a player taken in the NBA Draft since 2001, highly-rated prospects were investing in Pearl’s vision for his program. “You absolutely cannot tell the story without giving Austin Wiley, Aubrey Wiley and Vicki Orr credit for Austin choosing Auburn in the two years before high school graduation,” Pearl said. “He was born to be an Auburn Tiger, but our program was so down that he, probably to be a pro, would have probably needed to go elsewhere to a national program. Austin Wiley chose to be an Auburn man, and he was the original Pied Piper. And then I was able to get a guy like Mustapha and some of the other great recruits.” Now, Heron is the Tigers’ sixth-rated recruit of all time, as Pearl has landed six 5-star recruits and 17 4-star players in his time at Auburn. Following 18 years without a player drafted, Chuma Okeke became Pearl’s first Auburn player taken in the draft when the Orlando Magic selected him with the 16th overall pick in 2019. Chuma Okeke (5) during Auburn Men's Basketball vs. Florida on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in Auburn, Ala. “I feel like (playing at Auburn) prepared me (for the NBA) just by the physicality that comes with playing in the SEC,” Okeke said. “Of course, NBA is a lot stronger, but I feel like that's probably the closest you get to it playing NBA basketball, playing in the SEC. And the way (Pearl) just teaches the game, too.” Okeke was the first of six Auburn players taken in the NBA Draft from 2019-23, including lottery picks Isaac Okoro and Jabari Smith Jr. and NBA All-Rookie team member Walker Kessler. The 2021 NBA Draft saw two Tigers selected in the second round, JT Thor and Sharife Cooper. “Looking back to where I came in at to where they're at now, the level of talent that they get now is outstanding,” said Anfernee McLemore, a forward for the Tigers from 2016-20. “And I was happy to be a part of it.” Anfernee McLemore (24) during the Auburn vs. Kentucky game on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, in Auburn, Ala. After three years of rebuilding the Tigers, Pearl returned success to Auburn men’s basketball in a big way in his fourth season. After eight straight seasons of finishing in the bottom five of the SEC from 2010-17, Auburn won the conference in 2018 – a meteoric rise for a program that was an SEC afterthought for many years before. That 2018 team made the NCAA Tournament, the first time Auburn had done so since 2003, and earned Pearl’s first March Madness win at Auburn with a 62-58 victory over the College of Charleston. The 2018-19 team saw the Tigers go where no Auburn team had gone before. The Tigers’ momentum started at the end of the regular season, as the Tigers rattled off four straight wins, including a victory over No. 5 Tennessee on Senior Day. It continued into the SEC Tournament, where Auburn won four games in four days to win the event for the second time ever and the first since 1985. Then, the gauntlet of the NCAA Tournament came for Auburn. And it was no ordinary gauntlet as Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky – and their combined 17 national championships at the time – awaited the Tigers if they could get past 30-win New Mexico State in the first round. The Tigers survived New Mexico State, then knocked off the blue bloods one by one, beating Kansas by 14, North Carolina by 17 and Kentucky in overtime to advance to the program’s first-ever Final Four in Pearl’s fifth season at Auburn and second tournament appearance. “I said, ‘Hey, you couldn't ask, you know, for God, to give us a better opportunity to make history. Like he actually put this in front of us,’” Pearl said. “And then he lifted us up and carried us all the way through. It was his plan.” Pearl’s program never looked back from the first few years of success and the Tigers, six seasons after winning their first SEC championship under Pearl, have sustained the success that began with the 2017-18 team. “It's too early to tell, but the fact that the league has never been better, and we're still in position to compete for the championship is a compliment to our staff,” Pearl said. “Here's the other thing too: the continuity of my staff. Most of the guys that were at the Final Four are still here. And I have I have several key pieces of this program including my son Steven or Chad Prewett that have been here from day one.” What would have been Auburn’s third straight March Madness appearance, something it had not achieved since 1986-88 did not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pearl and the Tigers eventually accomplished that with three straight appearances from 2022-24. After the pandemic subsided, Pearl’s team continued to make history. The 2021-22 Tigers became the first Auburn team to ever reach the No. 1 ranking when they did so on Jan. 24, 2022. That team delivered Pearl’s second SEC regular-season championship at Auburn – the Tigers had two in the 82 years of the SEC before Pearl arrived. The history kept coming after the season was over, as Smith and Kessler were each picked in the first round of the NBA Draft – the first time Auburn had two players picked in the first round of a draft. Dec. 1, 2021; Auburn, Alabama; Jabari Smith (10) and Walker Kessler (13) share thoughts during a match between Auburn and UCF in the Auburn Arena. Jaylin Williams, whose first season at Auburn was in 2019-20, was a part of five of Pearl’s 10 Auburn teams. After playing behind veterans and NBA Draft picks in his first few years, Williams stayed loyal to the Tigers throughout his collegiate career. Over his time on the Plains, Williams heard Pearl mention history countless times. “That’s like every day,” Williams said. “He’ll write on the board 'making history.' There’s always something in the locker room talking about making history, like on the wall, but he emphasizes that almost every day. And then he just tells us it's up to us to if we want to make that.” Having played for Pearl for five seasons during the Tigers’ run of success, Williams made history of his own when he became Auburn’s all-time winningest player, picking up his 88th win on Nov. 10, 2023. Auburn forward Jaylin Williams (2) dunks against Texas A&M on January 9, in Neville Arena. “It’s great. I didn't ever think that would be something that I'll be proud of or something that I would accomplish here at Auburn,” Williams said. “If I was a little kid and you told me I'd be the winningest player at Auburn, I wouldn’t believe you…” With two SEC regular-season titles and two SEC Tournament championships already secured in Pearl’s tenure, the Tigers have become relevant on the national scene. “If you're good enough to be competitive in the SEC, you're good enough to win a national championship,” Pearl said. “So if you focus on the league and what you’ve got to do to beat the best teams in the league, and that's what our focus was. If you can do that, well, then you can go to the NCAA Tournament and beat anybody. And we've obviously proven that.” The reputation of Auburn’s men’s basketball program has changed dramatically from where it was just 10 years ago. Now a consistent contender in the SEC, the Tigers look to continue making history throughout Pearl’s time on the Plains and beyond. This article is also available in our "People" print edition. Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman. Matthew Wallace | Assistant Sports Editor Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021. Twitter: @mattwallaceAU Share and discuss “A decade of history: How Pearl led Auburn to unprecedented era of success” on social media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 247sports.com SEC champs Auburn takes down Florida to win SEC Tournament title Nathan King 5–6 minutes NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Five years to the day from when the confetti rained down on Jared Harper, Bryce Brown and that Final Four-bound squad, the Tigers celebrated in Bridgestone Arena again. Completing its three-game run in Nashville, fourth-seeded Auburn use a huge second-half surge to take down No. 6 seed Florida 86-67 on Sunday afternoon and win its second SEC Tournament title under Bruce Pearl, and its fourth conference title overall over the past seven seasons. Here are Auburn Undercover's instant impressions, as the Tigers — heavily projected as a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament entering the day — now await their March Madness draw in just a few hours in the selection show. TIGERS’ DEFENSE LOCKS DOWN, GATORS STORM BACK An electric offense over the past few weeks, Florida missed 14 of its first 16 shots from the floor, as the Tigers locked down defensively. Auburn’s wing defenders ran the Gators off the 3-point line — and Florida didn’t make a triple until three minutes into the second half anyway, missing its first seven looks from beyond the arc after shooting a season-high 54 percent from deep the day before against Texas A&M. Florida’s best offense was the free-throw line, where it entered the bonus with 8:29 left in the first half. The Gators got 11 of their first 21 points in the game from the foul line. Auburn felt close to breaking the game open a few times — an open K.D. Johnson 3-pointer in transition would have pushed its lead to 15 — but continually came up just short of blowing the roof off a very pro-Auburn building at Bridgestone Arena. Florida then ripped off a quick 9-2 run to gather some momentum for what felt like the first time all game. Auburn still led by 8 at halftime, but the Gators scored 11 of the final 17 points in the first half, and 14 of the first 21 points in the second half. TIGERS MAKE SECOND-HALF SURGE TO WIN TITLE Auburn responded with a massive sequence to regain an 8-point lead. Florida had possession in a 1-point game after making five of its last six shots from the floor. Instead, Chris Moore got a steal-and-score in transition, Florida’s Zyon Pullin went 0-for-2 at the foul line, Tre Donaldson hit a 3-pointer then snatched a steal and fed the ball ahead to Denver Jones for a transition dunk. Todd Golden called timeout as Bridgestone Arena exploded into a deafening roar with 14 minutes left in the game. Jones scored all 11 of his points after halftime. Johni Broome finished as Auburn's top scorer with 18 points and 11 boards in a double-double. Auburn built its lead to as large as 21 points, shooting 61 percent from the floor overall in the second half. After the Gators brought it to a 1-point game, Auburn made 13 of its next 15 shots. The Gators never solved Auburn's defense from beyond the arc, finishing just 1-of-13 from deep. DONALDSON, MOORE IN TOURNAMENT MODE Two of Auburn’s reserves continue to play some of their best basketball of the season in tournament time. In Auburn’s three SEC Tournament games, point guard Tre Donaldson went 4-of-6 from deep, and wing/forward Chris Moore has provided a huge spark of energy as a defender and rebounder, finishing a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor in Nashville, plus six rebounds Sunday. FOUL DISCREPANCY Auburn had seven fouls in the second half before the Gators were called for their first, and Florida entered the bonus with 13:05 left in the game. It didn’t matter much down the stretch. Florida went 18-of-25 from the foul line for the game compared to 18-of-22 for the Tigers. HORRIFYING INJURY LEAVES GATORS STUNNED With 17:39 left in the first half, Gators center Micah Handlogten went down awkwardly going for a rebound and suffered a gruesome leg injury. Bridgestone Arena went dead silent as a stretcher was brought out. A Florida staff member went into the stands to bring Handlogten’s mom onto the floor. Auburn’s players and coaches prayed on their bench. Chad Baker-Mazara’s mouth hung wide open for a couple minutes as he sat in shock. Handlogten was lifted on the stretch and transported to Vanderbilt’s hospital a few minutes later, as Florida’s entire team came over to see him. Arena staffers had to clean blood off the court, apparently from Handlogten’s leg. Florida’s second-leading rebounder this season, Handlogten was a defensive menace in the Gators’ regular-season win over Auburn, with five blocks and three steals. Florida was already without Riley Kugel, who had 22 points against Auburn in the first meeting. Kugel was out for undisclosed reasons, as Golden didn’t mention it postgame after he missed the Gators’ semifinal win over Texas A&M, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 al.com This Auburn basketball team is a national champion in waiting Published: Mar. 18, 2024, 7:15 a.m. ~2 minutes By Kevin Scarbinsky | Special to AL.com This is an opinion column. You may not like his politics or his personality, and if so, he really doesn’t care, but unless you’re the NCAA Division I Basketball Committee - more on that group in a minute - you have to give Bruce Pearl his due. He changed the game of basketball at a school and in a state long dominated by football. For the better if not forever. The latest evidence poured in Sunday with the same furious intensity and contagious joy the Auburn team and its boisterous family unleashed in Nashville. They turned Bridgestone Arena into the Jungle North and overwhelmed a very good Florida team in the SEC Tournament Championship Game. So much for the notion that the building would be a ghost town after Kentucky went one-and-done Friday. This is no longer your father’s Big Blue Nation except, perhaps, to the old heads on that pesky selection committee. We’ll get to them shortly. I promise. That emphatic 86-67 statement by the Tigers simply added to Pearl’s legacy as the most impactful basketball hire in this state since UAB lured Gene Bartow from UCLA to start a program from scratch and cause Alabama power brokers to itch for decades to come. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 al.com What to know about No. 4 seed Auburn’s NCAA Tournament draw Published: Mar. 18, 2024, 6:18 a.m. 4–5 minutes Auburn players, Bruce Pearl cut down nets after winning SEC Tournament Just about two hours after Auburn won the SEC Tournament championship over Florida, it turned around for the Selection Show, still draped in championship gear in a ballroom at the downtown Nashville Westin hotel where the team stayed all week. Auburn was drawn as a No. 4 seed in the East Region. It will play its first game in Spokane. Both Bruce Pearl and Steven Pearl were disappointed with Auburn’s seed line and location. Bruce Pearl quipped it might payback for Auburn getting to play in Birmingham last season as a No. 9 seed. No matter, Auburn will be boarding a plane to Washington this week. Here’s a look at who else is joining Auburn there. No. 5 seed San Diego State NET ranking: 20th KenPom ranking: 21st What to know: San Diego State went to the Final Four last year and returns many key pieces of that team. It gets a No. 5 seed out of what was a very difficult Mountain West conference this season. It’s also Chad Baker-Mazara’s former school, in what could be a potential Round of 32 matchup. San Diego State’s name was called on the Selection Show before Auburn’s and Baker-Mazara was clearly happy to see the Aztecs in the field. San Diego State is built on defense. Its defense is the 10th best nationally per KenPom’s efficiency rating. But in the same metric, San Diego State’s offense is outside the top 60. That could be a difficult matchup, especially since San Diego State is a good rebounding team. Center Jaedon LeDee is a legit national player of the year candidate, especially so according to KenPom which has the LeDee as among its top five in its national player of the year metric. He’s averaging 21.1 points per game this season and 8.4 rebounds per game. No. 12 UAB NET Ranking: 104th KenPom Ranking: 106th What to know: What a time for basketball in Alabama. The state sent four teams to March Madness and three of them will be in Spokane. Auburn and UAB are in the same pod and Alabama is also in Spokane in a different pod. The Blazers got here by winning an upset-riddled American Athletic Conference championship. UAB finished fourth in the AAC regular season and then beat top-seeded USF on the way to a title. It beat Temple in the final which beat FAU — the only other tournament team out of the AAC. No. 13 Yale NET ranking: 83rd KenPom ranking: 84th What to know: Yale will be Auburn’s opening opponent in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The first player on that team Bruce Pearl mentioned is 7-foot center Danny Wolf. With good reason. Wolf is scoring more than 14 points per game this season and has shown an ability to be a threat from beyond the arc, too, making 34% of his 3-point attempts this season. At that size, Wolf averages nearly a double-double per game with 9.8 rebounds a game as his average. Yale may not be elite in any one thing, and frankly, Yale came out of the Ivy League as a relative upset compared to the league’s top team: Princeton. But Yale doesn’t turn the ball over often — its turnover percentage is in the top 20 nationally — and has much more size than Auburn — something that has given the Tigers trouble in the past. The Blazers have a top 25 offensive rebounding percentage according to KenPom, and a top 60 offensive efficiency rating. What’s next? Should Auburn win its Spokane pod and advance to the second weekend, it will go to Boston for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. There, Auburn would more than likely play No. 1 overall seed UConn in what would likely be effectively a true road game. The East Region of the bracket is loaded with No. 2 seed Iowa State and No. 3 seed Illinois also in the field. Matt Cohen covers sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 al.com Bruce Pearl frustrated with Auburn’s selection as No. 4 seed in Spokane pod Published: Mar. 17, 2024, 6:18 p.m. ~3 minutes Highlights from Auburn's 86-67 win over Florida to claim 2024 SEC Tournament title #wareagle #auburn A year after Auburn got lucky as No. 9 drawn to Birmingham, head coach Bruce Pearl appeared frustrated about winning the SEC Tournament championship and being sent across the country to Spokane as a No. 4 seed. Auburn was drawn in the East Region as a No. 4 seed against No. 13 seed Yale. Also in the pod are No. 5 seed San Diego State and No. 12 seed UAB. “Well they’ve been talking about us being out in Spokane a lot for some reason,” Pearl said to local reporters at the team’s hotel after the Selection Show. “Maybe that’s because that’s where the 4s are. We were hoping that an SEC Tournament championship and wherever we are in the NET, maybe we’re 5 or so in the NET, would get us to the 3-line. But it obviously didn’t, so. Are we paying a price for being in Birmingham last year and getting an incredible opportunity against Houston, the one seed? Perhaps. It’s a long way to travel for our fans. We’ve been in this for a few times now. We got San Diego. We got Salt Lake City. Yes, we did get Birmingham but we also now got Spokane. So this is three times now that they’ve shipped us quite a ways away from our fans.” Auburn has been successful when traveling across the country before. When Auburn went to the Final Four in 2019, it played in Salt Lake City in the first weekend. No time has been announced for Auburn’s game Friday against Yale, but Auburn opened as an 11.5 favorite over Yale. During Pearl’s press conference, Alabama was drawn into a different pod also playing in Spokane. So that means three different schools from Alabama will be traveling across the country. “I mean, Alabama, UAB and Auburn in Spokane, Washington? Enough said,” Pearl said. Matt Cohen covers sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,803 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 al.com March Madness tickets: How to get NCAA tournament seats for Alabama, Auburn, UAB in Spokane Updated: Mar. 17, 2024, 7:41 p.m.|Published: Mar. 17, 2024, 7:31 p.m. ~4 minutes Christian Coleman (13) throws down a dunk during UAB's 85-69 win over Temple in the AAC tournament title game, Sunday, March 17, 2024, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. (UAB Athletics)UAB Athletics March Madness has begun, and the NCAA Tournament has SEC Tournament champion Auburn, American Athletic Conference champion UAB and at-large Alabama all playing in Spokane, Washington. Tickets are available at Vivid Seats, StubHub and Seat Geek. East Bracket No. 4 Auburn (27-7) vs. No. 13 Yale (22-9), 3:15 p.m. (4:15 p.m. ET), Friday TNT No. 5 San Diego State (24-10) vs. No. 12 UAB (22-11), 12:45 p.m. (1:45 p.m. ET), Friday, TNT West Region No. 4 Alabama (21-11) vs. No. 13 Charleston (27-7), 6:35 p.m. (7:35 p.m. ET), Friday, truTV Here’s what tickets are going for. Keep in mind, both Auburn and UAB are playing in the first session, while Alabama takes the court in Session 2. Vivid Seats Tickets for access to all sessions start at $302. Seats for Session 1 tickets are going for as low as $63. Session 2, meanwhile, has tickets for as low as $77. Seats are currently $97 or Session 3. StubHub Seats for all-session passes start at $266. Session 1 tickets are going for as cheap as $65. Meanwhile, Session 2 seats are $78. Get Session 3 tickets for $99. Seat Geek Session 1 tickets are going for as low as $79. Session 2 seats are going for $83 and higher. Session 3 tickets are going for $103 and higher at the time of this posting. Alejandro Vasquez sank five 3-pointers on his way to scoring a career-high 29, Yaxel Lendeborg finished with his 19th double-double of the season and UAB (23-11) cruised to a wire-to-wire 85-69 victory over Temple in the championship game of the American Athletic Conference Tournament, earning the Blazers a spot in the NCAA Tournament for a 17th time. Alabama (21-11) came in to the SEC Tournament having won the SEC regular-season title and tournament championship two of the past three years under coach Nate Oats. The Crimson Tide, however, headed home early after a 102-88 loss to Florida in the conference tournament to start preparing for the NCAA Tournament. Mark Sears led Alabama with 22 points. Aaron Estrada added 17, Nick Pringle finished with 12 and Grant Nelson had 11. Meanwhile, Johni Broome scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 12 Auburn won the Tigers’ third SEC Tournament championship by beating Florida 86-67 on Sunday. The Tigers (27-7) avoided the upset bug that took out the SEC’s top three seeds in Friday’s quarterfinals, leaving them as the highest seed still standing. They never trailed in the final, adding titles to those won in 1985 and 2019 and earning a second under coach Bruce Pearl. Denver Jones scored 11 points for Auburn. Chad Baker-Mazara added 10 before going to the bench along with Broome and getting a standing ovation with two minutes left. Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,612 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) 3 hours ago, aubiefifty said: What are the biggest things to take away from the game? Auburn got out-rebounded again For the second game in a row, the Tigers were out-rebounded by their opponent. Both teams had 39 rebounds, This guy can't count? 3 hours ago, aubiefifty said: Fouls plagued Auburn The Tigers struggled to stay out of foul trouble. With 15 minutes left in the game, Chad Baker-Mazara, Chaney Johnson and Jaylin Williams each had three fouls. Florida was capitalizing on these fouls as well, shooting 18-25 from the free-throw line. Fouls plagued Auburn? The Tigers also made 18 free throws. Again, this guy can't count! What a messed up article. He must be a Florida grad. Edited March 18 by Mikey 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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