2/7/23 Auburn Articles

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Auburn basketball encouraged despite tough loss at Tennessee

Published: Feb. 06, 2023, 2:28 p.m.

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The Team during the game between The Tennessee Volunteers and the #25 Auburn Tigers at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN on Saturday, Feb 4, 2023. Steven Leonard/Auburn TigersSteven Leonard/Auburn Tigers

When the emotions settled for Auburn following the bewilderment of the controversial final sequence in its loss at Tennessee on Saturday, the Tigers looked around the visiting locker room at Thompson-Boling Arena and felt a sense of accomplishment.

It’s not that Auburn found a moral victory in its 46-43 loss to then-No. 2 Tennessee, but Bruce Pearl’s team left Knoxville, Tenn., feeling better about the bigger picture—even as it was disappointed in the result against the Vols.

Read more Auburn basketball: Auburn’s program-record streak of consecutive weeks ranked in AP poll ends

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“That was a tough loss, but I feel like once we were in the locker room after the game, we were upset but we were kind of like, ‘OK, if that’s the No. 2 team in the country or like sixth now, we can win,’” senior forward Jaylin Williams said. “Like, we can win more games than like these reporters and everyone believes.”

Auburn came up just short in its upset bid on the road against Tennessee. The Tigers’ offense struggled against the Vols’ vaunted defense, but Auburn’s defense held its own in a hostile road environment while holding Tennessee to a season low in points — and its lowest-scoring performance since 2015 — as well as its second-worst shooting effort of the year (27 percent from the field) and its worst 3-point shooting performance since 2017 (9 percent).

Auburn nearly erased a six-point deficit in the final 2 ½ minutes, holding Tennessee without a made field goal during that stretch and getting to within one with 18 seconds to play after forcing a turnover with a relentless full-court trap. Auburn had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Wendell Green Jr.’s 3-point attempt caromed off the rim on the final play, which included a contentious no-call despite Tennessee’s Olivier Nkamhoua making contact with Green on the attempt and impeding on his landing space.

Despite the three-point loss, Auburn was encouraged by its performance on the defensive end and its opportunity to steal a Quad 1 win on the road despite an inability to knock down shots, both open looks and contested attempts. The Tigers shot jut 23.7 percent for the game and 11. percent (3-of-27) from 3-point range, and they went an entire 20-minute stretch — half of the game — with just one made field goal: a deep 3-pointer by Green.

“The open shots were still contested,” Williams said. “Tennessee was sliding around, like, both teams, the defense was incredible. But yeah, just the shots were there. They were little contested shots that we should make.”

Even with the loss, which dropped Auburn out of the AP poll for the first time since the end of the 2020-21 season, the Tigers moved up in KenPom rankings (they’re currently 24th) and are 30th in NET rankings. The fight they showed on the road against one of the nation’s top teams, in a game in which the offense struggled to find any sort of rhythm, has the Tigers optimistic about the daunting road in front of them over the final month of the season.

That begins with a pair of Quad 1 opportunities this week, first on Tuesday at Texas A&M (40th in NET), which snapped Auburn’s 28-game home winning streak two weeks ago, then Saturday at home against third-ranked Alabama (No. 3 in NET).

“Well, if you love the grind, which I do,” Pearl said, “then you love the position that you’re in right now.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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Dylan Cardwell’s status uncertain for Auburn ahead of trip to Texas A&M

Updated: Feb. 06, 2023, 1:59 p.m.|Published: Feb. 06, 2023, 1:16 p.m.

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Dylan Cardwell (44) during the game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the #21 Auburn Tigers at Neville Arena in Auburn, AL on Saturday, Jan 14, 2023. Zach Bland/Auburn TigersZach Bland/Auburn Tigers

Auburn’s frontcourt could be shorthanded again when the team travels to College Station, Texas, for Tuesday night’s matchup with Texas A&M.

The status of backup center Dylan Cardwell remains uncertain for the Tigers as of Monday afternoon, according to head coach Bruce Pearl. Cardwell is dealing with an undisclosed illness and did not travel with Auburn to Knoxville, Tenn., last weekend for the team’s matchup with Tennessee.

Read more Auburn basketball: Auburn’s program-record streak of consecutive weeks ranked in AP poll ends

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ESPN’s College GameDay returning to Auburn for Alabama game

Pearl said Monday that it’s unclear if Cardwell will be available for the Tigers’ rematch with the Aggies, which is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

“Even as we speak right now, don’t know,” Pearl said. “I think Dylan will be — I think he’ll be in the building. I don’t think he’ll practice today.”

Cardwell is averaging 4.1 points, four rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game off the bench this season while playing behind Johni Broome. The junior is shooting 79.2 percent from the field in 14.2 minutes per game. In SEC play, Cardwell averages 2.9 points, 2.7 boards and one block per game while shooting 65 percent from the floor.

In Cardwell’s absence against Tennessee, Auburn turned to freshman Yohan Traore as the backup center. Traore, who did not see the court in each of Auburn’s prior three games, played eight minutes off the bench and grabbed one rebound while missing his only shot attempt. Broome played 32 minutes -- just the second time this season he has played more than 30 minutes in a game -- and led Auburn with 11 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and a pair of steals.

“This was the first week (Traore) practiced it,” power forward Jaylin Williams said. “He responded very well for a freshman to play a position you haven’t played all year and just know exactly like the plays and stuff like that and have that energy. I know him and what’s-his-name got into it a little bit, like he roughed him up a little bit. That was pretty good just to stand up for himself and us.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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Charles Barkley hilariously explains why he chose to go to Auburn

Ethan Stone

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Charles Barkley hilariously explained why he decided to go to Auburn back in his playing days during the ESPN broadcast of West Virginia-Auburn.

Barkley’s Tigers fell in a close match to the Mountaineers, 80-77. Before the end of the game, Barkley was asked why he chose Auburn over other schools that were recruiting him.

His answer?

“They sucked, to be honest with you,” Barkley said, via SI. “I tell all of these kids if you want an education, you get an education anywhere. But the No. 1 thing you look at if you’re going to a school is playing time.”

Barkley went on to dunk on the transfer portal, which he has shown a great distaste in recently.

“With this stupid ass transfer portal we’ve got going on in America today […] you knew that quarterback or the guy was good, why would you go to the school when you know there’s a great player already there?… I was looking at Alabama, Auburn, UAB – UAB was my first choice – Then I looked at Alabama. When I went to Auburn, they weren’t very good, and I wanted to play. It turned into the best decision ever.”

Barkley’s Tigers are struggling as of late. Auburn is just barely above a bubble team right now, and has trouble winning the big games this season. With the loss, Auburn falls to 16-5 on the year.

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Auburn's streak ends as an AP ranked basketball team

 

AUBURN, Alabama–After winning at home vs. Georgia and losing on the road to then No. 2 ranked Tennessee on Saturday, the Auburn basketball Tigers dropped out of this week’s AP Top 25 poll. Coach Bruce Pearl's Tigers also fell out of the Top 25 ranking done by the coaches.

Auburn’s program longest run of being ranked, which reached 32 consecutive periods has ended. The previous longest was 30 ranking periods during the Coach Cliff Ellis Era.

The Tigers, who were 25th last week, received 65 votes in the poll announced on Monday. San Diego State (18-5) is 25th this week with 96 poll points. Florida Atlantic has the next highest vote total with 93 points followed by Duke with 87 and Auburn with 65.

Only two SEC teams are ranked this week. Alabama moved up one spot to third while Tennessee dropped four spots after losing at Florida and defeating Auburn on Saturday.

The Tigers also dropped out of the USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll. Last week the Tigers were 23rd in that ranking in a tie with UConn at 81 points.

This week the Tigers have 43 points. Duke and Clemson are tied for 24th with 67 points. Creighton has the most votes of a team outside the Top 25 with 66 following by Florida Atlantic (61), Rutgers (56) and Auburn (43).

The Tigers will return to action with a 6 p.m. CST game on Tuesday at Texas A&M, a team that defeated Auburn 79-63 on Jan. 25th. The Aggies are tied for second in the SEC with Tennessee. Auburn will be at home on Saturday for a 1 p.m. CST tipoff vs. league leader Alabama.

After dropping a 46-43 decision on Saturday at Tennessee the Tigers have eight SEC regular season games remaining. Five of the opponents have winning records in league play, three have losing records and Missouri is 5-5 in SEC games. Four of the remaining games are at home with the next on Saturday vs. Alabama, a contest that will feature ESPN’s Gameday crew originating its show from Neville Arena.

Auburn Basketball News & Notes: Wendell Green dropped from first to fourth among SEC players in free throw percentage at 82.6 percent. Wade Taylor of Texas A&M is the leader at 84 percent. Green, a junior point guard, is third in assists at 4.3 per contest. Sahvir Wheeler of Kentucky is the leader at 5.57. Green is tied for eighth in the league in steals with 1.74 per game...Johni Broome is second in the league in rebounds at 8.91 per game and third in blocks at 2.55 per contest...The Tigers are averaging 72.04 points per game, which ranks seventh in the SEC. Alabama is the leader at 83.13. Auburn is allowing 63.78 points per contest, which ranks third in the league behind Tennessee’s 54.57.

Wendell Green looks to pass the ball for the Tigers. (Photo: Greg McWilliams, Inside the Auburn Tigers, 247Sports)

Auburn is sixth in the league in field goal percentage at 44.0 and fourth in field goal defense, allowing opponents to hit 38.8 percent of their shots...The Tigers are next to last in the league in three-point accuracy at 28.8 percent. They are allowing opponents to make 26.9 percent of their threes, which is third in the league...Auburn is seventh in the SEC in rebounding margin at plus 3.22 per contest. Tennessee is the leader at plus 7.96...Auburn is eighth in the league in turnover margin, forcing 0.52 more per game than it is committing. Missouri is the league leader at 6.22. Auburn has the fifth best assist-to-turnover ration at 1.12-1. Missouri leads that category at 1.46-1. Auburn has been better in assist-to-turnover ratio in SEC games at 1.28-1. One of the reasons for that is Green is second in the league in assists per game in conference play at five per outing. He is No. 1 in steals in league play averaging 2.6 per outing.

SEC Standings

Alabama 10-0, 20-3

Tennessee 8-2, 19-4

Texas A&M 8-2, 16-7

Auburn 7-3, 17-6

Kentucky 7-3, 6-7

Florida 6-4, 13-10

Missouri 5-5, 17-6

Arkansas 5-5, 16-7

Georgia 4-6, 14-9

Vanderbilt 4-6, 11-12

Mississippi State 3-7, 15-8

LSU 1-9, 12-11

Ole Miss 1-9, 9-14

South Carolina 1-9, 8-15

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