aubiefifty

Auburn Basketball NCAA Tournament: Game time, TV channel set for Auburn’s 2nd-round game against Houston Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 11:43 p.m. Auburn guard Allen Flanigan dribbles the ball during the first half of the team's first-round college basketball game against Iowa in the men's NCAA Tournament in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, March 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP NEW! By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com Survive and advance. That’s the name of the game in March Madness, and Auburn and Houston did just that in the opening round Thursday night in Birmingham. Now the eighth-seeded Tigers and top-seeded Cougars are set for a second-round matchup at Legacy Arena on Saturday. The two teams will square off at 6:10 p.m. CT, with the game airing on TBS and with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. Read more Auburn basketball: How Auburn weathered the storm against Iowa and advanced in the Big Dance Everything Bruce Pearl, Auburn players said after defeating Iowa Freshman Tre Donaldson shines for Auburn in first-round win Auburn advanced to the second round after withstanding a late run against eighth-seeded Iowa and holding on for an 83-75 win. The Tigers built a 17-point lead midway through the second half and saw it dwindle to four inside the final few minutes, but they never relinquished the lead and held on for the win. Houston, meanwhile, dispatched a feisty 16th-seeded Northern Kentucky in the late game at Legacy Arena on Thursday night. The Cougars won, 63-52, in a game that saw its margin float in the single digits for much of the night before Kelvin Sampson’s team pulled away late. Saturday’s showdown between Auburn and Houston will be the eighth all-time meeting on the hardwood between the two programs. Houston leads the series, 6-1, and has won each of the last five matchups, the most recent of which came all the way back in 1982. This will be the first time the two teams have met in the postseason, and the winner will advance to Kansas City for the Sweet 16 next week. Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

Auburn Tigers Sports March Madness tickets: How to get NCAA tournament 2nd-round seats for Auburn Updated: Mar. 17, 2023, 6:10 a.m.| Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 9:41 p.m. Auburn center Dylan Cardwell reacts after a basket against Iowa during the second half of a first-round college basketball game in the men's NCAA Tournament in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, March 16, 2023. Auburn won 83-75. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP NEW! By Mark Heim | mheim@al.com The Auburn Tigers - a No. 9 seed - got 19 points and 12 rebounds from Johni Broome, and the Tigers advanced to the NCAA tournament’s second round with a 83-75 win over No. 9 seed Iowa on Thursday. Tickets for when the Tigers play at Legacy Arena on Saturday in a second-round matchup against Houston-Northern Kentucky winner are available at Vivid Seats, StubHub and Seat Geek.. The Tigers (21-12) made 11 of 12 free throws over the final four minutes to lock up a second-round matchup with No. 1 seed Houston, a 63-52 winner over Northern Kentucky. The game is set for 6:10 p.m. on Saturday. Auburn had six players score in double figures. Wendell Green Jr. had 15 points, and Donaldson, Jaylin Williams and KD Johnson each finished with 11. Allen Flanigan scored 10. Check out the tickets available: Vivid Seats The cheapest seats at Vivid Seats are $244 and go for as much as $1,198. StubHub StubHub’s cheapest seats are $252. The best-selling tickets, however, are going for $266 each. Seat Geek Seat Geek best prices are $231 per ticket. Some of the best seats available, in section 125, are going for $394 each. Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.

'I got fight': Auburn's Chris Moore confident after shoulder injury vs. Iowa Published: Mar. 17, 2023, 7:15 a.m. 4–6 minutes Auburn Basketball ‘No injury could put me down’: Auburn’s Chris Moore confident after tweaking shoulder vs. Iowa Chris Moore (5) during the game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Auburn Tigers at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL on Thursday, Mar 16, 2023. Steven Leonard/Auburn TigersSteven Leonard/Auburn Tigers Chris Moore tried to hide the pain. Auburn’s bulldog of a forward has been dealing with a shoulder injury on and off this season, and he tweaked it again during the Tigers’ opening-round NCAA Tournament win against Iowa on Thursday night in Birmingham. Moore tried to play through the pain, but after corralling a no-look pass from Wendell Green Jr. under the basket with a little more than 5 minutes to go until halftime. It was then that the pain became too much. Moore winced and grabbed his shoulder, prompting one of the referees to stop the game for an injury timeout in order for Auburn to sub in Jaylin Williams at the four. Read more Auburn basketball: How Auburn weathered the storm against Iowa and advanced in the Big Dance Everything Bruce Pearl, Auburn players said after defeating Iowa Auburn withstands late surge, defeats Iowa in opening round of NCAA Tournament “I was just battling the whole game,” Moore said. “I tried my best not to show it, but when I caught that pass, it was kind of probably the point where I had to sit down and get it looked at before I continued playing.” Moore immediately went back to Auburn’s locker room to get his shoulder checked out. He didn’t return to Auburn’s bench until a few minutes into the second half, when he emerged from the locker room with a short-sleeved compression shirt on under his jersey. Though he rejoined his team on the sideline, Moore didn’t see the floor in the second half of the Tigers’ 83-75 win against the Hawkeyes. Auburn managed fine without him, as starting power forward Jaylin Williams overcame some early foul trouble to finish with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Freshman Yohan Traore also entered the rotation at the four, logging nine minutes and at times guarding All-Big Ten forward Kris Murray. Allen Flanigan also saw a couple rotations at the four, with walk-on Lior Berman on the wing. “It was tough for me, because I’ve been battling injuries a lot this season,” Moore said. “…It was just something that our coach definitely put an emphasis on, that we got to have every guy (healthy). So, he sat me out. I wasn’t mad. My team was playing good; everybody was playing good, so when that happens then I can’t be mad at nothing. We got a good dub tonight.” Though the injury sidelined Moore for the final 25 minutes of the opening-round matchup, after the game he described the injury as merely “a little tweak.” It at least didn’t seem as bad as when he first injured the shoulder on Jan. 10 at Ole Miss, which resulted in him missing two weeks of action before returning off the bench for Auburn. The 6-foot-6 forward has been the epitome of toughness for Auburn this season, but he has also endured plenty. Along with the initial shoulder injury that sidelined him for two weeks, Moore busted his chin in the SEC Tournament a week ago against Arkansas. He took a hard fall face-first onto the court at Bridgestone Arena, drawing blood and requiring him to get stitches. Even after he returned to the court against the Razorbacks, he had to switch jerseys from his usual No. 5 to the nameless No. 41—Auburn’s contingency jersey that it breaks out in the event a player gets blood on his typical uniform. That was the case for Moore in the SEC Tournament, even as he logged just nine minutes off the bench. Bruce Pearl afterward described Moore’s grit as the embodiment of Auburn basketball. That toughness was on display again Thursday night after the Tigers’ opening-round win, when Moore appeared resolute in his belief that the reaggravation of his right shoulder wouldn’t prevent him from playing in Auburn’s second-round matchup against top-seeded Houston on Saturday (6:10 p.m. CT on TBS). “There’s no way I’m going to show everybody that I’m weak and I ain’t got no fight in me,” Moore said. “I’m going to show everybody I got fight; no injury could put me down.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

al.com Freshman Tre Donaldson shines for Auburn NCAA Tournament 1st round win Updated: Mar. 16, 2023, 10:43 p.m.|Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 10:40 p.m. 3–4 minutes Wendell Green, Dylan Cardwell, Tre Donaldson recap Auburn's win over Iowa in NCAA Tournament By Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com Freshman point guard Tre Donaldson entered Thursday’s 83-75 Auburn win against Iowa in the NCAA Tournament’s first round averaging 2.1 points per game as second-team All-SEC point guard Wendell Green’s backup. Donaldson scored double-digits once this season in a 74-71 loss against Southern California. He had 12 against the Trojans with two games of seven points. After the win, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl joked that Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey might’ve been caught off-guard by Donaldson going 3-3 from three in the second half and scoring 11 points in his tournament debut at Birmingham’s Legacy Arena. Read More Auburn Basketball: Rewinding Auburn’s 83-75 1st Round win vs. Iowa Auburn withstands late surge, holds off Iowa in 1st round of NCAA Tournament Everything Bruce Pearl, Auburn players said after beating Iowa in NCAA Tournament “He did not look or act like a freshman at all,” Pearl said. “And I think that -- I know that you’re in a game like that. Coach McCaffery has to be looking down the bench who is this kid. We don’t need this.” Pearl might’ve underestimated how much film study McCaffery did because he told reporters he was familiar with Donaldson and K.D. Johnson, who scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting and 2-4 from three. “I was impressed with Donaldson. I think that kid is a good player,” McCaffery said. “Johnson, he’s had some games where he’s gone off. He’s taken over at the end. So you can look at the numbers and say this is what they did over 32, 33 games, but I look at the quality of the player, the complete picture. And I think those two kids are really good.” Donaldson had hit eight three-pointers on 27 attempts during the season and hadn’t attempted a three since he went 1-2 from behind the arc on March 1st in the overtime loss at Alabama. He scored his first three with 12:47 left to give Auburn a 51-39 lead. The Tigers shot 1-9 from three in the first half and went 7-10 from three in the second, paced by Donaldson’s three-for-three night. “I kept the confidence in my catch-and-shoot game,” Donaldson said. “I was open and I was ready for them to kick it out to me. It felt great to contribute to a win in March Madness. I’m thankful for the tough time because it makes moments like this sweeter.” Auburn advances to the second round and Saturday will face either No.1 seed Houston or No. 16 seed Northern Kentucky with a chance to go to the Sweet 16. Donaldson’s role in the Tigers scoring 52 points in the second half didn’t go unnoticed by Pearl. “He’s got a toughness about him, a swag, confidence, not afraid,” Pearl said. Absolutely not afraid of the moment. He’s going to be a really goodplayer in the future. But he’s got a role to play.” Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group

al.com Everything Bruce Pearl, Auburn players said after beating Iowa in NCAA Tournament Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 10:07 p.m. 13–17 minutes Auburn kept its streak of opening-round NCAA Tournament wins intact Thursday night at Legacy Arena. Ninth-seeded Auburn held off eighth-seeded Iowa for an 83-75 win in the opening round in Birmingham. The Tigers had six players score in double figures and staved off the Hawkeyes, who cut a 17-point lead down to four late in the second half. Auburn improved to 4-0 in opening-round games under head coach Bruce Pearl. After the game, Pearl, K.D. Johnson, Allen Flanigan and Johni Broome went to the podium to discuss the Tigers’ win, as they advanced to the second round on Saturday. Here’s everything they had to say: BRUCE PEARL, K.D. JOHNSON, ALLEN FLANIGAN AND JOHNI BROOME COACH PEARL: You walk in Auburn’s locker room and there’s a sign that says “AU, make history.” And we knew going into this game that Auburn and our basketball program had won 10 straight first-round games but this match against Iowa was not going to be easy. But we wanted to be able to add to the history. So I believe that’s now 12 straight first-round wins for Auburn. So congrats to all the coaches and players in our program that have won that. I’m happy for my upperclassmen. I thought the starters stepped up and played really, really well. Tonight, Al, a tough matchup and he won his matchup which was really important for us tonight. I’m really happy for how Al. He’s playing his best basketball right now on a big stage. And K.D. is just giving such a spark coming off the bench. Wendell was great for a general. I thought our bench played really well and lifted us up. Our speed and quickness, obviously, was a factor. Defensively Iowa is the number three offensive efficiency team in the country. And to hold them to 75 points or at least 26 in the first half was a great effort. Q. The final five minutes of the game you guys get stop after stop. You had rebounds and blocks. How crucial was it when they cut it to four for you to tighten it up on that end of the floor? JOHNI BROOME: Like Coach said, they’re a very high-powered offense. We knew they had another run in them. They weren’t going to go away. Once they cut it to four we just held up and said we’ve got to get stops and win this game. We relied on each other -- box outs, rebounds, contended shots. That’s what we did to finish the game off. Q. You guys talked all week about how this crowd could play a role in this game. What did it feel like out on the court? Did they give you guys that added spark in the second half? ALLEN FLANIGAN: The hometown, they came in deep and heavy. They showed out. They was loud and rowdy all game. Felt like a home game for us. JOHNI BROOME: Like he said, you all was out there. You all heard the crowd. It was electric. They gave us energy. We feed off the energy a little bit. They helped us in the second half a lot. Just gave us momentum. Q. Talk to me about that last three-minute sequence there. You guys started hitting the 3s. What’s going through your heads since you guys were getting the your momentum? K.D. JOHNSON: To get the stops. They’ve been down before. They’ve been there before. We couldn’t stop playing hard until the clock says :00. That’s what we did. Came out with a W. Q. K.D., you seem to be really locked in this postseason. Is there added motivation for you to close out games differently than you had previously? K.D. JOHNSON: Most definitely. I started off the season kind of sluggish and I wasn’t there for my team. I wanted to pay them back with giving 110 percent with my myself, my body, my mind, everything, just to do whatever to make us go farther in this March Madness. Q. I know you guys talked about this leading up to the game. Just being locked in, you want to prove something. You had a tough matchup to start it, but you got something done that was pretty dominant. How do you feel confidence wise heading into this next matchup depending on who you guys get? JOHNI BROOME: We’ll be prepared for them. It’s two really good teams playing. I feel we’re a confident group. We’re playing in March Madness. We don’t need too much extra confidence. That’s on the biggest stage; that should give us confidence itself. Q. K.D., you guys went on that big run there in the second half, shooting the ball with the bench. You hit a few, Tre hit a few from deep. How key was that for you guys to go out there as a bench unit and really help you pull through on offense? K.D. JOHNSON: That helped a lot. But what helps even more, when we got six guys in double figures, we are playing hard on defense, and we’re, on the opposite side, sharing the ball. When guys having fun with it, they’ll give their 10 percent on the floor. We came out and played hard. Q. That fall there, I guess you were okay after that. Also you’ve had struggles and ups and downs this year. What was it like, is this the most fun you guys have had in a game this year, this season? K.D. JOHNSON: You can say that. It’s March. So we won our first game this season through all the ups and downs we had in the previous time we had in the first start of the season. So now that we’re in March we’ve got a new leaf and it starts off 0-0. So we feel good. That was scary, though, I was trying to make sure I didn’t hurt myself in any other way, but that was crazy. Q. You hit a big 3 from the top of the key. Talk about adding that to your repertoire, something else that your next opponent will have to watch on film. It was a big shot to give you guys a lot of momentum. JOHNI BROOME: For sure. I think my coaching staff, my team, they believed in me to take those big shots. Part of the reason why I came here because Coach, he wanted me to expand my game a little bit. That’s what we did. I have confidence in myself and everybody have confidence in me when I get ready to shoot a 3 ball. Q. K.D., when you go towards the crowd and open your mouth and make wild faces, what are you trying to accomplish there? K.D. JOHNSON: Well, you got the fans as loaded like that and it’s March Madness? That’s the best feeling in the world. I don’t know. It just feel good to do that. Just a relief. Q. Allen, you seem to be really locked in on the defensive end tonight, especially on the boards. You had 10 boards tonight. Was your concentration tonight really trying to get after it defensively? ALLEN FLANIGAN: Yes, that was my main focus, just controlling what I can control. That’s defense and rebounding, and running hard in transition, trying to find my teammates, help them get shots. That’s what I did tonight. Q. What is it going to take for you guys to do what you did tonight coming up? What is going to be the difference? K.D. JOHNSON: Just coming in, giving a lot more than we did tonight. Houston is a No. 1 seed. So we’re going to need more than what we did tonight. And just feed off, keep going with what we did tonight. Q. Coach, I wanted to ask you about Berman’s defense. I know you had him on Kris Murray, an All-Big Ten. I thought he did a nice job defending. Talk about Lior and the job he did tonight. COACH PEARL: We have confidence in Lior. The defense that we played tonight, we did a lot of switching. And so when Murray was at the top of the floor he was guarded by guards. When he got down to the bottom, we were hoping to try to get a big on him. I thought as best we could, I thought it disrupted Iowa a little bit. But I do think that run with K.D. and Lior and Tre, and the bench being in there, Chris Moore is in a regular rotation with us. He goes out with his shoulder. All of a sudden Al Flanigan has to play some 4 -- he’s not played there all year long. And guys are filling in spots. But I think that’s what a team is all about. And we were able to overcome some real challenges. Jaylin Williams gets in foul trouble. There were a lot of things that happened that could have set us back. But Johni Broome was too dominant inside. K.D. and Tre making all those shots in the second half. Al doing the job with Johni on the rebounding, not letting Iowa dominate on the glass -- they beat us on the glass, but they didn’t dominate. Q. Bruce says it all the time, you win late by getting to the free-throw line and getting stops. How proud are you for these guys to get that in a tournament environment especially after they cut it to four? COACH PEARL: I told our guys it’s going to get down to single digits now. Iowa was down big at home to Michigan State and they came back won that thing. We knew they’d come back. Look, it got a little tight there for a second. And I asked the guys, in a timeout, I said, look, we’re up four, five, six, there’s six minutes left to go in the game. I said if we could be in that situation before the game, would you take it? I think we would have taken it. Let’s just calm down. They made some shots and we got stops. And we got rebounds and got some 50/50 balls. Our speed and quickness was a factor. And you could sort of see Big Ten/SEC from a standpoint of two different conferences. We aren’t much more athletic or faster than many teams in the SEC. We’re not. But tonight we were. Iowa was bigger, a little bit more skilled, shot it better from 3. They had some physical advantages. But our speed and quickness was a factor tonight. Really helped us on the defensive end and attacking the rim. That’s why I think they played so much zone. Q. Talk about Tre Donaldson’s night, getting the three 3s there, especially with what’s he’s been through? COACH PEARL: Tre Donaldson is a freshman that’s played about ten minutes a game. He’s clearly been Wendell Green’s backup. He’s going to be a really good player in the future. But he’s got a role to play. But because he was a high school football strong safety and one of the top strong safeties in the country, he could have gone anywhere he wanted to play football. He’s got a toughness about him, a swag, confidence, not afraid. Absolutely not afraid of the moment. And he did not look or act like a freshman at all. And I think that -- I know that you’re in a game like that. Coach McCaffery has to be looking down the bench who is this kid. We don’t need this. But it’s very, very important that your bench plays well in the postseason, I think. Q. How would you best describe K.D.’s persona on the court? COACH PEARL: Unpredictable. You know? But right now he’s in a good spot. He’s really good in the locker room. He’s really good with his teammates. He’s a really good friend to a lot of the guys. He plays with a lot of emotion, a lot of passion. And he giveth and he taketh away. And he’s been givething more lately. Q. You talked all week about the ability for this crowd to play a role. Is it sounding like Neville Arena in there tonight? What role did the crowd play in the second half? COACH PEARL: It played a great role. But, guys, this is Birmingham, Alabama. This is football country. And we dominate. And I’m really proud of that. But we looked like a basketball state today. Alabama took care of their business today early on. They filled the building. Auburn played a really good team out of the Big Ten. And we played well and we filled our building. And I think it makes a statement about basketball in the state of Auburn and the great job that people here in Birmingham did putting this tournament together. Q. What was the strategy for you all defensively against the 3 because they didn’t shoot the 3 particularly well? Secondarily it’s not going to show up on the stats but the minutes from Yohan Treore tonight? COACH PEARL: We did a lot of switching on some of their actions to keep our guards up and our bigs down. As a result, we weren’t having it get over the top of flares or chase pindowns. And it was good. It was effective. The key, ball pressure’s important. Iowa got, they made seven. I bet you two or three, at least, were off offensive rebounds. That’s dangerous. When they make eight or more -- I think they’re 11-2. So keeping them under eight was definitely a number. And Yo was in there because Chris (indiscernible) tweaked his shoulder again. And Jaylin was in foul trouble. So Yo was ready to go. He did a nice job. Q. The beauty of this tournament is anything can happen. That’s what makes it so fun. So what can you say just about success and succeeding in this tournament, how much of it is the guys on the floor and the talent versus just being locked in and having the right mentality to withstand this tournament? COACH PEARL: You’ve got to have both. You have to have dudes. Allen Flanigan is a really good player, who affects the game defensive, rebounding, making shots. He got to the rim. So happy for him on the big stage. He looked really good. Johni Broome is an old-school, old-fashioned center that can stretch you a little bit and had big blocks, big defensive plays. You have to have players more than anything else. But I do think our kids are proud of our basketball program. And they recognize the history. And there’s probably nobody in the media happier tonight than Charles Barkley and those guys are all going to be talking about how Charles will be happy on the set with his balloons and his tiger. Let him talk a little bit of smack. Q. Auburn basketball has made a lot of statements over the last six or so years. How is this statement different with all the spotlights this year on Alabama and their run? You had it last year, for you guys to step up on the stage the way you did tonight? COACH PEARL: We’ve played a really tough schedule. And we’ve lost to a lot of teams that were favored and teams that were better than us. And that’s one thing I told our guys. But to give our guys confidence I had to remind them we played Alabama for 85 minutes. We led for 67 of those minutes, both at home and Tuscaloosa. So we’ve giving them confidence we can play. We beat Tennessee and lost by three at Tennessee. Even though we’ve lost some games I was proud of our guys for competing. So I want to make sure our guys knew they were good enough. And you know what? We really don’t pay much attention to what Alabama is doing. And they’re a great team. They’re extremely well-coached. They’re really talented. They play the right way. Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

How Auburn weathered the storm against Iowa and advanced in the Big Dance Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 11:23 p.m. 7–9 minutes Bruce Pearl wanted to calm things down. The Auburn coach saw his team’s lead, once at 17 points midway through the second half, dwindle to four with about five minutes to go in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa star Kris Murray just threw down a dunk in transition to get the Hawkeyes within four, so Pearl promptly called a timeout. As his players gathered near the bench, Pearl calmly posed a question to them: If he told them before the game that they’d be up four with five minutes to play against a higher-seeded team with a potent offense, would they take it? Read more Auburn basketball: Auburn withstands late surge, holds off Iowa in opening round of NCAA Tournament Everything Bruce Pearl, Auburn players said after defeating Iowa Freshman Tre Donaldson shines for Auburn in first-round win “I think we would have taken it,” Pearl said. The Tigers took a collective deep breath during that stoppage in play, and then they recomposed themselves and responded in remarkable fashion. Auburn withstood a late surge from Iowa and held on for an 83-75 win Thursday night at Legacy Arena, keeping its season alive and advancing to the second round for a showdown Saturday against top-seeded Houston. “It wasn’t nothing,” freshman guard Tre Donaldson said. “BP’s relaxed. Y’all see BP as always yelling, screaming and always red. He was chilled, relaxed and making jokes. We’re good. He has the confidence in us, and we had the confidence in him. We just played Auburn basketball. When we play Auburn basketball, it’s really hard to beat us.” That was the case in the Tigers’ first-round matchup, at least, as they weathered a storm from the Hawkeyes. The Tigers built a 17-point lead with 10:50 to go against the Hawkeyes on the back of a 16-5 run that included a trio of 3-pointers from Donaldson, who went 3-for-3 from deep and finished with 11 points in his postseason debut. Even as Legacy Arena turned into Neville Arena North after Allen Flanigan’s and-1 gave Auburn its biggest lead of the night, Pearl and his team knew an Iowa run could be looming. That’s what Iowa does. It’s a dangerous team that can catch fire from deep and quickly put together runs. At the timeout before Flanigan’s free-throw attempt, Pearl reminded his players about that too. He pointed to Iowa’s miraculous comeback against Michigan State on Feb. 25. The Hawkeyes trailed by 13 late in regulation of that game, but they stormed back with 23 points in the span of 90 seconds—making six 3-pointers along the way—to force overtime, where they outlasted the Spartans, 112-106. “We knew they’d come back,” Pearl said. Iowa did exactly what Auburn expected. The Hawkeyes put together a 21-8 run over the next six minutes to cut Auburn’s lead to four. Fran McAffery’s team made 6-of-10 shots during that run, including three of their six attempts from beyond the arc. The energy from the once-raucous crowd at Legacy Arena shifted from exuberant to anxious. “We knew Iowa was one of those teams that could get hot at any second,” guard Zep Jasper said. “I know the fans started calming down a little bit, but it was one of those things that, oh my God, like I was on the bench at one point and they started hitting threes. I was like, ‘Oh my God, these boys are getting hot.’ That’s when Pearl called the timeout for his team to compose itself. He reminded them of the position they were in, that they expected this from Iowa—and that they’ve been in these scenarios before. It has been a season full of narrow losses and close calls for Auburn, which has struggled at times to close out games or hold onto leads late. Seven of its 12 losses this season were decided by five points or fewer. “We’ve been here before,” forward Chris Moore said. “We’ve been here before, and it’s very evident. So, now it’s time to show we’ve grown as a team, just like every other team is supposed to grow coming into this tournament.” Coming out of the timeout, Auburn began to string together stops. Iowa missed each of its next four shot attempts, including three straight attempts from 3-point range. After the Hawkeyes made six of their first 10 3-point attempts in the second half (which came after a 0-for-9 performance from deep in the first half), they connected on just one of their final eight attempts from deep over the game’s final six minutes. “The key was just not losing your man, and also they were getting a lot of offensive rebounds,” Jasper said. “They’re a team, when they get offensive rebounds, they got shooters, and they can kick it out anywhere. It was pretty important just to stay on those guys that can shoot the rock, because every time they shot the ball off the offensive rebound, I feel like they made it because their guys are like 6-6, 6-7, so they shot right over the top of our small guards.” As Auburn put together stops on defense and slowed Iowa’s high-octane offense, it also found answers of its own on the offensive end in the form of Wendell Green Jr. The veteran point guard was crucial to the Tigers’ ability to weather the storm late. After Iowa made an effort to wall him off for much of the night, he found his spots down the stretch. Of Green’s 15 points against Iowa, 10 of them came after Murray’s dunk made it a four-point game. Green came out of that timeout and attacked the basket for a tough layup to push Auburn’s lead back to six. He followed that with four consecutive free throws after Iowa again cut the lead to four. Green, who added a pair of assists in the final minute and a half, made all six of his free-throw attempts in the final four minutes, as Auburn went 10-of-10 from the line down the stretch (Johni Broome was 4-for-4 late). “That’s what Wen does,” Broome said. “He lives for those moments. He’s just one of those guys that isn’t afraid of nothing. He’s not afraid of how people think of him. He knows what he’s got to do.” Green let everyone know it in the locker room after the game, too. After Broome noted that Green’s nickname is “Icy Wen” for a reason, Green flashed his chain — which features his silhouette in the mold of the NBA logo — and reminded everyone within earshot that, “I’m Icy.” Thanks to Green’s strong close and a refocused energy on the defensive end, Auburn was able to withstand Iowa’s big run and live to see another game. In a season filled with disappointing finishes, the Tigers turned the tables in the NCAA Tournament with their season on the line. “A lot of them we haven’t ended up winning how we wanted it to happen in close games, but we got this one,” forward Jaylin Williams said. “This one, we don’t got no choice. Like, if it’s close at the end now, we got to keep competing. For us as a team, we just stuck together, stayed connected and it fell together tonight to close out the game.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

#PMARSHONAU: Starters and subs do it together as Auburn advances Phillip Marshall 4–5 minutes Auburn is an interesting basketball team. No individual player is the obvious option when a basket is needed. Auburn won’t pay a lot of attention to this year’s NBA draft. Yet, the Tigers, seeded No. 9, took down No. 8 seed Iowa 83-75 in the first round of the Midwest Regional on Thursday at Legacy Arena in Birmingham to improve to 21-12 for the season. How do they do it? Johni Broome, who had his 10th double-double, is a fierce presence inside. Though Auburn might not have any players around him most would call “great,” it has lots of good ones. Sometimes, help comes from unexpected places. Who would have expected freshman guard Tre Donaldson to hit three 3-pointers. Who would have expected Broome, a shaky free throw shooter who missed his first two, would hit four straight down the stretch. If ever there was a team effort, it was Saturday's victory. Six Auburn players scored in double figures. At times, Auburn did not have a starter on the floor. But where it all starts is with point guard Wendell Green. Green is not the best at anything, other than maybe at the free throw line, where he has the Auburn record for consecutive makes at 32 and counting. But he’s good at everything. Sometimes he scores in bunches – like 24 points against Tennessee – and sometimes he doesn’t. But he is, as they say, the straw that stirs the drink. So, now, Auburn moves on to play No. 1 seed Houston on the same court Saturday. What to make of the Cougars’ struggles Thursday against Northern Kentucky? They didn’t put the game away until the final minutes. First, I doubt Houston players expected to encounter the resistance they got from No. 16 seed Northern Kentucky. It’s safe to say they are likely to be more locked in Saturday, Then there is Marcus Sasser, the Cougars best player and the AAC Player of the Year. He didn’t play against Memphis in the AAC tournament championship game, and the Cougars lost by 10 to Memphis. He left the game early Thursday and did not return. Will he play against Auburn? He’ll probably try. Will he be full-speed? No chance. Much to Houston coach Kelvin Sampson’s chagrin, Auburn will have a massive crowd advantage, as it did Thursday. Sasser’s status is uncertain. Sampson also said after the game that Jamal Shead, the other starting guard, is dealing withy knee problems, Sampson, of course, also said it would be even more difficult because the Cougars are playing a “road game.” If Auburn can keep Houston from feasting on offensive rebounds, shoot a decent percentage inside and outside and not turn the ball over excessively, it should be a close game. Can Auburn win? No question about it, but Houston’s injuries notwithstanding, it will take a special performance. *** More NCAA Tournament thoughts: * Thursday could not have gone much better for Alabama, the No. 1 seed in the South and overall. No. 4 seed Virginia lost a shocker to No. 13 seed Furman. No. 2 seed Arizona lost even more of a shocker to No. 15 Princeton. That leaves No. 3 seed Baylor as the highest seeded team between Alabama and the Final Four. * The SEC had gone 5-for-5 Thursday when Texas A&M took the floor. The Aggies, seeded No. 7, were overwhelmed by No. 10 seed Penn State in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the 76-59 final score. Penn State took control early and never let up. * With Saturday’s game being a single session with Auburn playing first and Alabama second, it is going to be interesting to see how the crowd shakes out. A good number of Alabama fans probably sold their tickets to Thursday’s second session, but that won’t likely happen Saturday. ">247Sports

Auburn Football Veteran coach believes Auburn’s Zac Etheridge a ‘rock star’ in the making Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 8:00 a.m. AUBURN, AL - February 27, 2023 - Auburn Associate Head Coach & Safeties Coach Zac Etheridge during spring practice at the Woltosz Football Performance Center in Auburn, AL. Photo by Austin PerrymanAuburn University Athletics NEW! By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com Wesley McGriff has seen plenty in three-plus decades of coaching. It has taken him from small-time college ball to the NFL and multiple stints as an assistant in the SEC, with other stops along the way. He only needed a fraction of that time — less than three months and just four full practices this spring — to see that fellow Auburn assistant Zac Etheridge has a bright future ahead of him in the business. “Keep an eye on him, now,” McGriff said Tuesday. “He’s going to be rock star; he’s going to be a household name.” Read more Auburn football: Wesley McGriff identifies three main goals for Auburn’s secondary this spring Hugh Freeze chimes in on NCAA’s proposed changes to clock rules kickoff time, broadcast and ticket info set for Auburn’s A-Day game Etheridge has quickly made his mark in coaching circles in just a short time. The 34-year-old assistant is entering his third year coaching defensive backs at his alma mater after getting into coaching in 2012 as a graduate assistant at Penn State. In the years between, he served as a GA at Georgia Tech (2013-14), then as assistant at Western Carolina (2016-17), Louisiana (2018) and Houston (2019-20) before returning to the Plains as part of Bryan Harsin’s inaugural staff. In 2021, he was selected to the AFCA’s 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute, a program aimed at identifying and developing premier, future leaders in the profession. Then last July he enjoyed a weeklong experience with the L.A. Chargers staff as part of the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, which serves as a potential pipeline to coaching opportunities in the NFL. For now, at least, Etheridge is happy at Auburn, where he is adding another chapter to already-beloved story. A former four-year starter for the Tigers, Etheridge broke his neck during his junior season in 2009. Nine months later, he returned to the field and was a captain for Auburn during the 2010 national championship season. A little more than a decade later, he returned as an assistant coach and has garnered a reputation as Auburn’s best recruiter. He was rated as a top-10 recruiter nationally for the 2023 cycle, according to 247Sports, and Rivals identified him as one of the top-10 up-and-coming recruiters in college football. Etheridge played a major hand in Auburn’s surge up the recruiting rankings late in the cycle, as helped the Tigers land 11 of their 2023 commits while finishing with the No. 17 ranked class nationally despite a late-season coaching change at the end of October. “People always refer to him as a recruiter — and he does a great job recruiting — but that young man is also a great football coach,” McGriff said. “I’m closer to the end than I am the beginning, so I’m excited to go on this ride with him. But I’m also excited about watching his career down the road and watching where he’s going to go.” So, what is it about Etheridge that stands out so much to McGriff, besides his ability to relate to younger players and his prowess as a recruiter? According to McGriff, it’s Etheridge’s knowledge of the game — particularly for someone who is still relatively young in the ranks — and ability to translate that to players on the field and in meeting rooms. He has a way about him with how he uses his football IQ to communicate techniques and schemes to players. More than anything else, though, Etheridge is a people person who seems to genuinely care about his players, and that carries a lot of weight. “He’s been blessed with a lot of qualities that are going to not only make him a good football coach but a great person,” McGriff said. “I’m telling you: His career is definitely going to take off, and Auburn is blessed to have him in the building, and I’m blessed to be around him. I’ve been doing this a long time, but when you have an opportunity to do it with a young man like that, chalk it up because it’s fun.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

auburnwire.usatoday.com Four-star WR Nick Marsh to visit Auburn JD McCarthy 1–2 minutes Four-star Nick Marsh was committed to Michigan State for over seven months before reopening his recruitment on March 7 and Auburn has wasted no time getting involved with the wide receiver. Wide receiver coach Marcus Davis offered him a scholarship on March 8 and Marsh has already scheduled a visit to the Plains. He told Allen Trieu of 247Sports that he will be visiting Auburn on March 24. Buy Tigers Tickets Marsh is the No. 72 overall player and No. 12 wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite ranking. The River Rouge native is also the No. 3 player from Michigan. Auburn is looking to land multiple wide receivers in the 2024 class and the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder is exactly the kind of impact receiver they need. The Tigers have already landed commitments from four-star quarterback Walker White and four-star cornerbacks Jayden Lewis and A’Mon Lane. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page

How Hugh Freeze is retooling the offensive line at Auburn Updated: Mar. 16, 2023, 3:59 p.m.|Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 1:58 p.m. ~4 minutes Hugh Freeze recaps Auburn's first week of spring football practice By Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, offensive line coach Jake Thornton, and assistant offensive line coach Kendall Simmons had the arduous task of quickly rebuilding a depleted offensive line room. The trio saw an issue with an offensive line with seven returning players after Nick Brahms, Austin Troxell, Brandon Council, and Alec Jackson ran out of eligibility. Freeze likes to carry 16 offensive linemen. Auburn needed at least four capable starters and several incoming freshmen to develop depth. Before the advent of the transfer portal, this would’ve been a particularly problematic scenario. With the transfer portal and lots of work in recruiting, the Tigers added Gunnar Britton (Western Kentucky), Dillion Wade (Tulsa), Avery Jones (East Carolina), and junior college lineman Izavion Miller. Read More Auburn Football: Hugh Freeze chimes in on NCAA’s proposed changes to clock rules Kickoff time, broadcast and ticket info set for Auburn’s A-Day game Ben Aigamaua is optimistic about Auburn’s tight ends during spring football Jeremiah Wright is the lone returning starter on the line. He believes that adding Wade, who played at Tulsa under former head coach and new Tigers’ offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, will help build teamwork since the center intimately knows what Montgomery does on offense. “First of all, D-Wade is an incredible athlete, and I am enjoying getting to know him,” Wright said. “He helps us with the terminology and footwork. He’s been a blessing to our group.” Tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua works closely with the offensive line since his tight ends also have several blocking responsibilities. He added some insight into the new recruiting philosophies in the transfer portal and NIL era. “It’s very similar to the NFL, with the free agency and people moving everywhere,” Aigamaua said. “The terminology may differ, but the blocking scheme and the footwork may be the same. I think that’s where you’ve got to make sure that the guys that you recruit fit the mold of your program, fit the mold of your offense, so that when they do get here, it’s not, you know, you go from a pro-style type of run team to a spread, power type of run team, where you’ve got to make sure that the footwork all matches.” Freeze remembers when college teams wanted offensive linemen to develop together as freshmen into playing by their sophomore or junior year. Winning teams had a constant rotation of developing big men who played in the trenches. Times are changing, and Freeze knows the portal means getting creative on finding quality pass protectors and run blockers. “I think players by now if they’re realistic, they understand at this level (that) every year we’re trying to out-recruit you. Not many coaches will say that, but that’s the truth,” Freeze said. “You’ve got to compete every year to earn your time, and we’re going to try again next year to go find another even better one, But you still need all of them and forming them together when they’re competing for playing time and also trying to form a great team, that’s probably somewhat of a challenge for sure. But it’s something that we’re used to now.” Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group

Behind boisterous crowd, Auburn basketball tops Iowa in NCAA Tournament victory Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser Thu, March 16, 2023 at 8:13 PM CDT BIRMINGHAM — If Auburn basketball's staff was paying attention to trends heading into its meeting with Iowa in the first round of March Madness on Thursday, it should've been focused on one key stat. The Hawkeyes, who came in shooting 34.3% from 3-point range on the season, are 16-1 when they shoot better than their season average. When they shoot below it, they were 3-12. Iowa made 25.9% of its triples in a 83-75 loss to the Tigers (21-12) in Legacy Arena. That mark included the Hawkeyes (19-14) missing all nine of their attempts from beyond the arc in the first half. BRUCE PEARL:What Bruce Pearl texted former Auburn basketball, now Iowa assistant Matt Gatens FOOTBALL:Auburn football spring practice: Personnel units and other observations But as with most matchups between No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the NCAA Tournament go, it was a close affair. It was a five-point game at the half. That was despite Iowa going on two separate scoring droughts in the opening 20 minutes that totaled 8 minutes, 2 seconds. Auburn used some hot shooting in the second half from Tre Donaldson to propel itself to its largest lead of the game − 17 points with 10:50 remaining. But the Hawkeyes punched back with a 21-8 run, trimming the deficit to as little as four points. Johni Broome was impactful in crunch time, though, helping Auburn close out Iowa. He finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. Wendell Green Jr.'s starts slow, but team effort makes up for it After knocking down a 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining in the first half − the only made triple for either side in the opening 20 minutes − Wendell Green Jr. missed his next six shots. He added two steals late in the first half, but also logged a turnover to go into the break with a negative-1 plus/minus. But in a total team effort, the Tigers made up for Green's struggles. Nine of the eleven players that saw the floor for Auburn in the first half scored, including eight points from Broome and six from Allen Flanigan. Jaylin Williams added four. Home environment The Tigers are 14-2 in Neville Arena this season. The win over Iowa will count toward their record at neutral sites, but it should probably be tabbed as a home victory. With the game about two hours northwest of Auburn, the crowd was massively in favor of the Tigers. Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

Diamond Hogs shake up pitching rotation ahead of first SEC series Andrew Ellis 3–4 minutes For the first time this season, the No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks are switching up their starting pitching rotation for the weekend. As the Hogs begin SEC play against the Auburn Tigers, Hunter Hollan will start Game 1, Will McEntire will start Game 2, and the starter for the series finale is still to be determined. Sophomore left-hander Hagen Smith has served as the No. 1 starter for the Razorbacks during the first four weeks, posting a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 innings with 28 strikeouts and 14 walks. Smith also spent most of his freshman season as a weekend starter before providing valuable relief innings in the Hogs' run to the College World Series Semifinals. In his press conference Thursday afternoon, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn clarified that Smith's absence from the weekend rotation is not due to injury and that Smith is prepared to pitch in whatever context he's needed in the series with the Tigers. "Wild card, closer, long reliever, finisher - however you want to say it," Van Horn said. "Good pitcher in the bullpen. His numbers are great. He knows how to do it. He just wants to help the team win in any role, and I appreciate that. When you have some things happen with arms, sometimes you’ve got to make some changes, and we just felt like that might be something we needed to do this weekend. The Razorbacks have dealt with plenty of adversity with their pitching staff in 2023. After Jaxon Wiggins underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) prior to the season opener, Koty Frank suffered a season-ending injury to his lat, and star closer Brady Tygart remains sidelined for the time being with a UCL injury. While the bullpen has struggled at times to piece things together in their absence, Hollan has been a consistent bright spot as a starter for the Hogs. The junior left-hander has a 2.18 ERA in 20.2 innings this season, along with 21 strikeouts to just six walks. Van Horn believes the San Jacinto transfer will have no problem handling the Friday night assignment after pitching on Sunday the last four weeks. "He actually likes pitching on shorter rest, he’s told us that many a time, so I feel fine about it," Van Horn said. "If you go back to Sunday, he had at least 25 more pitches in there, and we took him out at about 70." Van Horn is keeping his options open regarding the Game 3 starter and believes the Hogs have plenty of capable candidates. 6COMMENTS "With this staff right now, it’s going to be matchup and best available," Van Horn said. "I mean, if we haven’t used Hagen or just used him a little, that’s a possibility. I mean, we could use Dylan Carter, we could use (Austin) Ledbetter, we could use Zack Morris. I mean, that’s just to name a few." The No. 7 Razorbacks will begin their series with the Tigers inside Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday night. First pitch has been moved up to 4 p.m. (CT) due to forecasted cold weather, and the game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus. ">247Sports

i apologize if this is repost but i thought it might have more info.

i found more game time to watch.

Alabama freshman football player arrested on marijuana charge; loaded gun found in car Updated: Mar. 16, 2023, 7:46 p.m.| Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 1:35 p.m. Thompson's Tony Mitchell chose Alabama during a football scholarship signing ceremony at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Ala., Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. (Dennis Victory | preps@al.com) By Mike Rodak | mrodak@al.com Alabama football player Tony Mitchell, an incoming freshman defensive back, was arrested in Florida on Wednesday after a traffic stop. The sheriff’s office of Holmes County -- located on the Florida panhandle along the Alabama border -- announced the arrest in a statement Thursday on Facebook. Mitchell, who played at Thompson High School in Alabaster, was charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell and/or deliver. The passenger of Mitchell’s vehicle, Christophere Lewis of Valley Grande, was arrested for possession of marijuana with the intent to sell and/or deliver, and carrying a concealed firearm without a permit. “During the stop, deputies detected the odor of burnt marijuana coming from the vehicle,” the Holmes County sheriff’s department wrote. “When asked if there was marijuana in the vehicle, Mitchell produced a baggie of marijuana from the passenger floorboard. Both Mitchell and Lewis were taken into custody. “A search of the vehicle produced an additional significant amount of marijuana, a set of scales, a loaded handgun between the passenger seat and center console, and a large amount of cash.” The sheriff’s office included a photo of its evidence, including a plastic shopping bag of marijuana, the handgun and several stacks of cash. Mitchell was a four-star prospect in the 2023 high school class ranked No. 123 in 247 Sports’ composite rankings. He committed to Alabama in June 2022 over Auburn, Georgia and Texas A&M, then signed his letter of intent in December. Mitchell was among Alabama’s incoming freshmen who enrolled early in January. The Tide begins spring practice Monday, with coach Nick Saban scheduled to hold a news conference at 6 p.m. CT that evening. Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.

Goodman: Auburn walk-on captures the soul of his city, NCAA Tournament Updated: Mar. 16, 2023, 10:36 a.m.|Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 7:20 a.m. 7–8 minutes Birmingham feels like the center of the college basketball universe this week, and in the middle of all the stars is an awe-shucks hometown walk-on for Auburn with a mean jump shot. Lior Berman is a senior shooting guard for the Tigers. He played for Mountain Brook High School, winning three state championships with those incredible teams coached by Bucky McMillan. NBA player Trendon Watford was the MVP of those teams. Berman was the other guy. College basketball stories can’t get much more wholesome than Berman’s journey from walking on at Auburn to the beginning of this NCAA Tournament in the same arena where he won all those state titles. Berman is like the Rudy of basketball except that Berman actually contributes real minutes to Auburn’s rotation and he has worked so hard in college that he might actually be good enough to play pro basketball overseas. Nine-seed Auburn begins its NCAA Tournament run on Thursday at Legacy Arena with a first-round game against eight-seed Iowa. Tipoff is at 5:50 p.m. The first game of the day in Birmingham is at 11:15 a.m. between eight-seed Maryland and nine-seed West Virginia. Top-seed Alabama plays 16-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi next at 1:45 p.m. The day’s late game — the one after Auburn-Iowa — is between one-seed Houston and 16-seed Northern Kentucky at 8:20 p.m. RELATED: Bruce Pearl, Auburn players preview Iowa game RELATED: What Iowa’s coach and players said about Auburn RELATED: Update on Auburn’s Chance Westry GOODMAN: Blood and guts take Auburn to the edge GOODMAN: Family of Jamea Harris can’t avoid Alabama basketball Long day of basketball. Long road for Berman that winds up all the way back at home where it started. “I had a feeling they were going to put us in Birmingham,” Berman said. “We were watching it, and I just had this feeling. It’s full circle coming back to Birmingham for a high-level game. It’s cool.” Berman is the ultimate team player because, despite being a senior who plays in the rotation, he’s still not on scholarship. Understand, it is exceedingly rare for a senior walk-on to receive playing time. After four years of college basketball, walk-ons usually move on to better things or get awarded scholarships. Not Berman, though. Not the Rudy of Auburn basketball. Auburn has operated under scholarship reductions over the last two years due to past NCAA transgressions. Berman has taken one for the team, paying his own way the last two years. Bruce, hook Berman up with some NIL money or something because he’s earned it. “If not for the scholarship penalty the last two years, Lior would have been on scholarship, so he’s like a scholarship player for sure,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “He’s a great teammate. He’s grateful for the opportunity he’s been given at Auburn, and he goes to work every day.” Berman is an industrial design major in his last semester of college. He wants to play pro ball in Israel after that. His grandparents live in Israel, and so when Auburn visited the country in the preseason it was Lior who ended up being the team’s unofficial tour guide. Probably did that for free, too. “And this is the Dead Sea, y’all. Don’t pee in the Dead Sea.” Berman, who is 6-4, was a great high school player for Mountain Brook. He had serious game even back then. In his final high school game, the 2019 7A state championship game in Legacy Arena, Berman scored 19 points and had eight rebounds. He also threw down a two-handed dunk near the end that set off the Spartans’ three-peat championship celebration in Legacy Arena. Berman dunked again on Senior Night this season in a victory against Tennessee that guaranteed the Tigers would receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Basically, whenever Berman dunks in a game, that means the party is officially starting. If Berman throws down against Iowa, the structural integrity of Legacy Arena’s roof will be put to the test. He might not be on scholarship, but Berman is a fan favorite and now a hometown celebrity and tour guide. “This is Vulcan. Loves fire. Hates pants.” SPORTS HAPPY HOUR: Get ready for the NCAA Tournament with Joe Goodman’s newsletter Berman is shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range, which makes him a pretty important player for the Tigers. Auburn doesn’t have many shooters on the team this season and Iowa is averaging 80.2 points per game. That’s a lot of points. The Hawkeyes led the Big Ten in scoring by a large margin. If the game turns into a shootout, then Berman’s jump shot could come in handy. Players have to make shots in practice before they make shots in a game. That’s one of Pearl’s coaching axioms. For Berman, all he knew was the practice court for two years. He had to prove himself again and again and again just to get an opportunity. That’s the way it goes for walk-ons. “You do have to earn your respect,” Berman said. “The coaches and the players give everyone a chance, so I’m grateful for that, but you really got to put in the work. You can’t just show up to practice. You have to work in the morning and at night to do the best with what you have, and I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of that.” It all came together for Berman in the summer before the 2022 season. Teammate Wendell Green Jr. tells it like this: “Lior wouldn’t be denied.” “Last year, he got the respect of everybody in the summer just playing,” Green said. “A lot of walk-ons shy away from being on the court, but he was forcing the issue. Like, ‘I got next. Y’all aren’t going to overlook me.’ “So, he got my respect when I first got here. He was one of the better shooters on the team.” It didn’t come easy. Berman could have played D-II or D-III ball out of high school, but he had to develop his body before he could compete for playing time at Auburn. He loved the challenge, though, and he loved Auburn, so he put in the work. “Coach Pearl talked about staying ‘right and ready’ at one of the first practices, and you never know when your opportunity is going to come as a walk-on,” Berman said. “It might only be one opportunity every couple weeks, but if you keep staying right and ready and capitalize on those opportunities, eventually it’s going to build up. “Just doing that consistently through the years, I finally put myself in a position where I can show it out on the court.” Berman of Birmingham put himself in the middle of his hometown’s big week of basketball, paying his own way to help his team reach this moment. It’s one of the great stories of this NCAA Tournament, and why college basketball and March Madness is such a priceless American treasure. Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama

al.com Auburn withstands late surge, holds off Iowa in 1st round of NCAA Tournament Updated: Mar. 16, 2023, 8:16 p.m.|Published: Mar. 16, 2023, 8:13 p.m. ~4 minutes Auburn guard Allen Flanigan (22) attempts an off-balance layup against Iowa during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the men's NCAA Tournament in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, March 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)AP Bruce Pearl hates it when he’s right, at least when it comes to Auburn’s opponents. It took less than a day of studying Iowa to foresee what kind of problems the Hawkeyes could present in the Tigers’ opening-round NCAA Tournament matchup. Iowa can score in bunches, Pearl said Monday. It’s a team that can catch fire from deep, and that made the Hawkeyes “pretty, pretty dangerous” in the postseason. So, when Auburn opened up a 17-point lead on Iowa in the second half Thursday night at Legacy Arena, Pearl braced for what could come. No lead was safe against the eighth-seeded Hawkeyes, not even in what turned out to be a de-facto home game for the Tigers at Legacy Arena, which transformed into The Jungle in the second half when Auburn opened up its massive lead. In a season full of narrow defeats and struggles to close out tight games late, Auburn finally held on. The Tigers withstood a barrage from the Hawkeyes down the stretch and advanced to the second round with an 83-75 win in Birmingham. That 17-point Auburn lead, it turned out, was too much for Iowa to overcome — but it was close. The Tigers built that lead thanks to a 16-5 run that included four 3-pointers, three of them coming from freshman point guard Tre Donaldson. After going just 1-of-9 from deep in the first half, Auburn caught fire in the second half, connecting on seven of its 13 attempts from beyond the arc. Iowa, which went 0-for-9 from deep in the first half, started to find some rhythm of its own from deep, and it helped Fran McCaffery’s team nearly erase that 17-point deficit. After Auburn extended its lead to 58-41 on an Allen Flanigan and-1 with 10:50 to go, Iowa responded with a 21-8 run to cut the Tigers’ lead to four points at the 4:10 mark. During that run, the Hawkeyes made six of their 10 shots, including 3-of-6 from deep. Although the Hawkeyes heated up from deep in the second half, draining seven of their 18 attempts after halftime, Auburn never let Iowa get within a single possession. When the Hawkeyes cut it to four the first time, Wendell Green Jr. responded with a strong drive down the lane to push Auburn’s lead back to six with 4:27 left. Iowa again cut it to four, but Green proceeded to make four consecutive free throws to give the Tigers some breathing room. The Tigers pushed the lead back to double digits three times in the final 2:15, including with 1:18 to go when Green found Jaylin Williams for a two-handed slam in transition. Iowa answered with another 3-pointer with 66 seconds to play, but Auburn never relented. Flanigan banked one in on a drive to the right side of the lane, and the Tigers sealed the game at the free-throw line as they advanced to the second round for the fourth time in as many NCAA Tournament appearances under Pearl. Auburn will face the winner of top-seeded Houston and 16th-seeded Northern Kentucky on Saturday at Legacy Arena. AL.com will update this post. Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.