2/17/23 Auburn Articles

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Auburn big men preparing for big test from Vandy's Robbins

Mark Murphy

4–5 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–Following a strong performance by starting center Johni Broome and backup center Dylan Cardwell vs. Missouri on Tuesday night, that pair will be tested by Liam Robbins, a 7-0, 250-pound fifth year senior for the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Tigers will face Robbins and his teammates at 7:30 p.m. CST at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville.

“He is a big, strong, physical player that can score one-on-one down there by himself,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “He is a man hard to keep off the boards. Three blocks a game. They will guard ball screens (and) he will be down there in drop coverage so he's not going to leave the paint very much.

“Fans will say, 'Gosh, that offense against Missouri was really good.' Well, Missouri didn't have a (seven) footer sitting there in the middle of the lane patrolling everything, right? It's all about matchups."

Cardwell agrees with his head coach that Robbins can impact a game. “He is a great player,” Cardwell said. “I was just watching them (Vanderbilt) play the last game and I was talking to Johni and saying, ‘This game is on us.’ We can’t let the guy get off.”

Cardwell remembered, “He gave us troubles last year in his first game back (from an injury). I remember he came in the lane in the first half and dunked it on somebody, he shot a three and had something like seven points in the first three minutes of being in the game.

Auburn opened the week with an 89-46 home victory over Missouri. Broome produced a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Cardwell came close to his first collegiate double-double, finishing with eight points and 10 rebounds.

Vanderbilt missed Robbins while he was out with an injury. Since he has returned the Commodores have put together a four-game winning streak to improve to 14-12 overall and 7-6 in the SEC. He leads Vandy in scoring at 14.7 points and rebounds at 6.6 per game.

Auburn is 18-8 overall and 8-5 in the SEC going into its only scheduled game vs. the Commodores this season. The contest will be televised on the SEC Network.

Robbins scored 24 points while pulling in eight rebounds on Tuesday in a 75-64 road victory vs. South Carolina. Robbins, who was named the SEC Player of the Week, has back-to-back 20-plus point scoring games for the first time as a collegian.

Pearl said he really liked the contributions he got from Cardwell and other reserves in the win vs. Missouri. He noted it will be important for the Auburn bench to perform well again on Saturday night. “They play really deep, they really do,” he said of the Commodores. “Part of what we talked about was that the bench really needed to step up some.”

Johni Broome is averaging 13.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in his first season at Auburn. (Photo: Jeff Gray, USA TODAY Sports)

Auburn continues to get good support from fans in road games and that is expected to continue on Saturday night at Memorial Gym. The Nashville Auburn Club will be there with faux Pearl strings that hold a photo of Auburn’s head coach.

“We do have a great following up there,” Pearl said. “There are a lot of Auburn grads. One of the things we should be extremely proud of, and it doesn’t get talked about very much, is the governor of Tennessee. The governor of the great state of Tennessee, Bill Lee is an Auburn graduate and a proud Auburn graduate. He is such an Auburn man. He has done a great job for the state.

“He wears his orange, and his orange and blue, on his sleeves,” Pearl added. “I hope I get a chance to see Governor Lee when I am there for just a short period of time.”

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Dylan Cardwell says Tigers in 'must win' part of schedule

Mark Murphy

4–5 minutes

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'I almost got a tech:' Tigers recount reactions to Allen Flanigan's dunk against Missouri

AUBURN, Alabama — As much as Dylan Cardwell wanted to celebrate, he had to go wrangle up his teammates.

Allen Flanigan's poster dunk early against Missouri served as the highlight moment from Auburn's 89-56 obliteration of the visiting Tigers on Tuesday night. It made the rounds on social media, and most everyone inside Neville Arena — from players to fans — lost their mind at the senior's hammer in transition.

But Cardwell was worried about the momentum being broken by a technical foul on Auburn's bench.

"Yohan (Traore) and K.D. (Johnson) ran on the court, and I was trying to avoid getting a tech," Cardwell said Thursday. "So I just shoved Yohan on the baseline toward the photographers. K.D. was out at the 3-point line and I was like dog, we're gonna get a tech. I had to hold K.D. up the whole time. It was worth it.

"That was one of the best dunks I've seen in The Jungle in my time here."

Cardwell's recollection confirmed what Johnson said after the win.

"I almost got a tech for running on the court," Johnson said. "I’m glad Dylan grabbed me and he held me for about 10 seconds. That was crazy. ... You know he had a little anger built up."

Center Johni Broome had a simpler response when asked for his reaction: "Oh, sh--."

To give Auburn a 30-6 lead over Mizzou out of the gates, Flanigan was the beneficiary of a steal by Jaylin Williams, who poked the ball away at Missouri's free-throw line. It ended up right in Flanigan's hands, and he immediately took off in transition. Kaleb Brown was the only defender ahead of him, and Noah Carter, who had the turnover, tried to sprint back and help protect the rim.

But Flanigan had his mind set on a dunk from the moment he got the ball and saw he could beat Brown to the rack. Brown ran with him until Flanigan used his right arm to create space for the dunk. Cardwell said he thought Flanigan was going to get called for an offensive foul.

"I was going, and he just kept coming with me," Flanigan said. "I tried to get an angle to get outside. He just kept running so I just gave him a nudge and a little gap opened up. So I jumped. ... I was just trying to get around him so I could get a clear (dunk), but he kept coming."

Brown had faded back under the basket, but Carter attempted to reach a hand in and defend the dunk. Flanigan punched it home as Carter backed away at the last second.

Auburn posted a video of former Jabari Smith, the Tigers' All-American freshman and No. 3 overall draft pick, reacting to Flanigan's dunk on his Instagram story. Smith and Flanigan roomed together during the 2021-22 season, and Flanigan said Smith often helped him rehab from his Achilles injury last preseason.

"We were laughing on the phone," Flanigan said. "He said, 'You're finally dunking now. You want to jump.'"

Having taken over as Auburn's starting small forward early in SEC play following Chris Moore's injury, Flanigan has been one of Auburn's most effective two-way players this season, shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from beyond the arc against conference opponents, while often drawing the opponents' best players defensively, too, because of his size and position on the wing.

"I think the thing is the efficiency," Bruce Pearl said Thursday of Flanigan. "He's shooting a good percentage. Not trying to do too much, but still playing with confidence and being aggressive. Not turning the ball over. Winning his matchup defensively. Rebounding. Just doing all the little things, that's the biggest thing we've been focusing on with Al. It is fun to watch him have a little bit of joy out there."