2/19.23Auburn Articles

[aubiefifty 18,424]

 

[aubiefifty 18,424]

 

[aubiefifty 18,424]

 

[aubiefifty 18,424]

 

[aubiefifty 18,424]

5 takeaways from Auburn's last-second loss at Vanderbilt

Nathan King

7–9 minutes

---

Another game, another tough finish for Auburn.

The Tigers led with 1:14 remaining but yet again were bested down the stretch of a tight game, losing 67-65 at Vanderbilt on Ezra Manjon’s layup with 0.8 seconds left.

Here are Auburn Undercover’s five takeaways, as the Tigers are back in the loss column for the sixth time in their last eight games.

Auburn can’t close out — again

A feed from Manjon to Liam Robbins for a dunk made for an 8-2 lead by Vanderbilt — after Auburn took its biggest lead of the game with eight minutes remaining — and the Commodores tied the game 57-57 with 4:30 remaining.

So Auburn was, yet again, going to be in another tight game in the final minutes, as it had been in most losses this season. And Bruce Pearl has been preaching that his team needed to close out and reverse its late-game woes if it was going to steal any of its final three road games of the season.

Robbins drew a foul on Johni Broome with 2:49 left, giving him his 17th and 18th free throw attempts of the game — his most this season. Both were good to give Vanderbilt a 61-59 lead, but Allen Flanigan immediately responded with a jumper on the other end.

Wendell Green Jr., Auburn’s best free-throw shooter this season, split a pair of freebies, giving the Tigers only a 1-point lead at 62-61. Auburn looked to get a stop, but Robbins tracked down an offensive rebound, and Jerry Stackhouse called timeout.

Trey Thomas missed a layup, but Robbins again got an offensive board, and he was fouled by Green Jr. attempting a put-back. However, Thomas’ shot didn’t hit rim, so the buzzer for a shot-clock violation rang almost simultaneously with the foul call. The officials had a lengthy review to see if the shot clock expired before the foul was called, and the verdict was that the fall occurred before the buzzer.

Robbins made both free throws, and Vanderbilt clung to a 63-62 lead with 63 seconds left.

Robbins blocked Broome’s shot on the other end, but the ball went out of bounds and stayed with Auburn, keeping possession with the Tigers.

Jaylin Williams missed a 3-pointer, and Auburn just had to foul Manjon, who made both free throws. But miraculously, K.D. Johnson, who had made just one shot all night, picked up a tipped ball, pump faked and stepped back for a triple to tie the game at 65-65 with 10 seconds left.

After Auburn’s timeout, though, Manjon went right at the basket and scored off a high layup over Dylan Cardwell and Auburn’s interior defense with only 0.8 remaining to seal yet another frustrating late-game defeat for the Tigers.

"Put Zep (Jasper) in to pressure the ball, put Dylan in maybe as a rim protector," Pearl said of the final possession. "And we're switching everything. The idea was that (Manjon) would go downhill, so put some size at the rim. And unfortunately, he came with a head of steam. Zep didn't do much to slow him down."

Another narrow loss stings

Auburn has now lost five road games by single digits, as the Tigers continue to come up short in the final minutes of tight matchups. Auburn had a 6-point lead with eight minutes left but went scoreless for three minutes, allowing Vanderbilt to tie things up.

The Commodores did a big portion of their damage at the foul line, where they shot 27 free throws. Of Vanderbilt's 8 points in the final two minutes, six came from the foul line.

"To win at the end, you have to get stops, and you have to get the foul line," Pearl said. "We never even got into the bonus in the second half. You win by getting stops and getting to the free-throw line."

Auburn leans on its bigs

It was clear early on that the Tigers’ shooting touch wasn’t clicking like it was last game, when they had their best 3-point performance of the season against Missouri (9-of-18).

So they looked to the inside for their scoring production most of the night. Williams led the way with 12 points in the first half, all in the paint. Auburn had 18 points in the paint in the first half and 40 for the game.

Vanderbilt had an opposite offensive emphasis. The Commodores opened the game 5-of-11 from beyond the arc, breaking a slow start for both teams by making three straight 3-pointers.

A perfect encapsulation of the teams’ differing offensive strengths came when Broome had three straight baskets out of the break to give Auburn its first lead, 33-31, since less than five minutes into the game. Vanderbilt immediately grabbed the lead right back, though, with a 3-pointer from Thomas.

Everything was working for Williams, who finished with 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting, plus six rebounds, two assists and a block.

"Jaylin's 8-for-12 and doesn't go to the foul line," Pearl said. "Did a great job. Would have liked to have got it in there to him more."

Broome also had a big night, with 20 points, 8 of which came in the first three minutes of the second half. Pearl commended him for his performance after he missed two days of practice this week.

"He was not feeling well after the game (against Missouri) and was out Wednesday and Thursday," Pearl said. "Came back to practice Friday, so very impressed with the fact that he was able to get it turned around. He's a great competitor."

Both he and Williams hit a 3-pointer in the second half, too — Williams’ off the backboard in transition, and Broome’s in the corner when the defense sagged off of him.

Despite so much success in the paint for Auburn — and 43 2-point attempts — the Tigers were only afforded 10 foul shots for the game.

"There really isn't much of an explanation for it," Pearl said.

Robbins’ gravity key for Vanderbilt

By the end of the night, simply dumping the ball inside to Robbins was usually a recipe for success for the Commodores.

Robbins shot just 3-for-10 from the field but posted a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds, buoyed by a whopping 17-for-20 clip at the foul line.

"He made three two-point baskets and was 17 for 20 from the foul line," Pearl said. "Hard to beat."

Though Williams and Broome were successful offensively, Robbins was a big reason why Vanderbilt walked away with the rebounding advantage — 41-35 overall and 13-10 on the offensive glass. And as Cardwell said this week, "the only teams that can beat us are the teams that can beat us on the boards."

Off night for Auburn backcourt

While Auburn’s bigs were cooking, its backcourt — save for walk-on Lior Berman — had a mostly forgettable night.

Green Jr. shot just 2-of-14 from the floor and finished with 5 points — though he corralled a season-high eight rebounds. Johnson hit the tying 3-pointer late and shot 2-of-5 with 6 points. Jasper didn’t score. Flanigan went 2-for-6 from his wing position.

"I thought Ezra did a great job on (Green Jr.)," Pearl said. "Did great, got up underneath him, just did a great job defensively on him. Made it really difficult."

Green Jr. now has 10 points on 2-of-18 shooting over his past two games.

It was Berman who provided the most scoring punch from the backcourt, with 8 points for the second straight game.

4COMMENTS

[aubiefifty 18,424]

247sports.com

 

Last-second basket gives Vandy a victory over Auburn

Mark Murphy

6–7 minutes

---

 

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Vanderbilt guard Ezra Manjon’s layup with three-tenths of a second left pushed the Commodores past Auburn 67-65 on Saturday night at Memorial Gymnasium. Vandy improved to 8-6 in SEC basketball play to tie Auburn for fifth place in the league standings as the Tigers dropped to 3-4 in SEC road games.

Auburn lost despite making seven more field goals and out-shooting the Commodores 43.5 percent to 35.7 percent from the field. Vandy overcame that by making 20-26 free throws while Auburn made just 5-10.

The Tigers dropped to 18-9 overall after losing a game that included 15 lead changes. Vanderbilt improved to 15-12 with and won a fifth straight game.

Auburn got 20 points and six rebounds from Johni Broome plus 17 points and five rebounds from Jaylin Williams, who hit 8-12 field goals. After the game Coach Bruce Pearl said that Broome came through with a strong performance despite dealing with an illness that limited him in practice this week.

K.D. Johnson tied the game with a three-point shot with 10.9 seconds left after Manjon hit two free throws with 23.9 seconds remaining to put the home team up 65-62. Manjon, a transfer point guard, drove the length of the court for the winning basket.

"We talked about switching everything," Pearl said of Auburn's failed defensive strategy at the end of the game. "The kid came downhill with quite a head of steam. Jaylin Williams' man set a screen on him. Jaylin was at a little bit of a bad angle and was just kind of late switching on him and taking him to the rim.

"I probably could have done a better job during the timeout to get my fours and fives to just sort of loosen up and the take the ball away from the rim," Pearl added. "I put Dylan Cardwell in for shot-blocking and thinking that maybe he would get switched off and protect them at the rim, but they went at Jaylin instead and he (Manjon) had a pretty good head of steam against Zep (Jasper).

Vanderbilt got 24 points from seven-foooter Liam Robbins, who made just 3-10 field goals, but killed the Tigers at the free throw line. He added 12 rebounds for the Commodores with eight coming on the offensive boards.

"Liam Robbins was 17-20 at the foul line," Pearl said. "I don't know how you overcome that. I just don't."

Vanderbilt led for 16 minutes in the first half, building the lead to as many as nine points at the 11:42 mark thanks to three consecutive made treys to make the score 15-6.

Auburn couldn’t cut the gap to less than four points the rest of the period, which was what Vandy’s lead was at intermission with the score 31-27.

Williams was the main man for the visitors on offense in the first period. He hit 6-8 field goals while scoring 12 points. He only took four shots the rest of the night and made two of them. Pearl said that Williams "did a great" job on Saturday night. "We would have liked to gotten it in there to him more," AU's coach said. Asked about the difference in field goal attempts for Williams from the first to second half, Pearl said, "They probably went a little stickier to him."

Auburn made 11-30 field goals for 36.7 percent, was 2-10 on threes and 3-6 at the free throw line in the opening half.

Vanderbilt made 9-30 field goals in the first half for 30 percent, was 5-11 on threes and 8-12 at the free throw line. Seven-foot center Roberts scored 13 first half points for Vandy.

Turnovers weren’t an issue for either team in the first half with Auburn having three and Vandy four. The Commodores out-rebounded the Tigers 24-18 by intermission.

Broome scored four baskets in the first four minutes of the second half to help the Tigers take a 37-36 lead.  The Tigers led 55-49 with 7:58 left on a three-pointer by Lior Berman, who came off the bench to score eight points. That matched his collegiate high scoring game.

Vandy tied the contest at 57-57 with 4:35 to play. Auburn’s last lead was 62-61 as Wendell Green made 1-2 free throws with 1:53 to play. Auburn didn't score again until Johnson hit a three-pointer with just under 11 seconds remaining. Vandy the called timeout to set up the game-winning play.

K.D. Johnson hits a three-pointer with 10.9 seconds left to tie Vanderbilt. (Photo: George Walker, IV, USA TODAY Sports)

Auburn finished with 41 rebounds, seven less than Vandy. Auburn turned the ball over nine times, one less than Vandy. Auburn outscored the home team 18-13 in bench points and 8-4 in fastbreak points. The three-point shooting was close with Auburn making 6-19 and Vandy hitting 7-18.

Stat of the Game: Vandy shot 26 free throws, 16 more than Auburn.

Worth Noting, Part 1: Auburn outscored Vandy 40-22 for points in the paint.

Worth Noting, Part 2: After dishing out nine assists with no turnovers on Tuesday night vs. Missouri when he focused on play-making, Green shot the ball 14 times vs. the Commodores and made two field goals. He was 0-3 on treys and 1-2 at the foul line and finished with five points, one assist and two turnovers. On the plus side the junior point guard led the Tigers in rebounds with eight and had three of Auburn's six steals.

Broome Ball: Third-year sophomore Broome, a transfer from Morehead State, also scored 20 points on Tuesday vs. Missouri. He has four games of at least 20 points this season and 22nd as a collegian.

[aubiefifty 18,424]

 

Updated: Feb. 18, 2023, 10:34 p.m.|Published: Feb. 18, 2023, 10:18 p.m.

3–4 minutes

---

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl shouts to players during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against South Carolina Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. Auburn won 81-66. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)AP

By

• Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com

Auburn’s hopes of escaping Nashville with a victory got dashed with Ezra Manjon sprinting 94 feet to the basket with a running layup as the clock expired at Memorial Gym. Vanderbilt won its fifth-game consecutive game in Southeastern Conference play with a 67-65 triumph on Saturday against the Tigers.

“Once again, really disappointed. I thought we played well defensively,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl told reporters after the game via Zoom. “Held Vanderbilt six below their number at home. Held them to 20 field goals. I’m not sure Vanderbilt has won a game when they only had 20 field goals.”

Auburn trailed 31-27 after a buzzer-beating three by Allen Flanigan, who finished the contest with five points on 2-6 shooting. The Tigers shot 11-30 at the half and were 2-10 from three. Vandy went 9-30 from the field but was 5-10 on threes.

Johni Broome scored eight of Auburn’s first 10 points in the second half while Auburn took the lead. Broome connected on a dunk with 6:03 left to give the Tigers a 57-54 lead. Broome led the Tigers with 17 points on 8-15 shooting, 1-3 from three, and was 3-4 from the free throw line.

Broome got outscored by Vandy’s big man Liam Robbins. Broome mostly guarded Robbins, who shot 3-10 from the field. Broome made Robbins uncomfortable all game, however, Robbins shot 20 free throws and hit 17 of them.

Speaking of free throws, the Tigers shot 5-10 from the charity stripe compared to 20-27 for Vandy. The free throw disparity is intriguing, considering that Auburn outscored Vandy 40-22 in the paint.

“No explanation,” Pearl told reporters when asked about the free throw disparity. “There really isn’t much of an explanation for it.”

Perhaps the biggest miss from the free-throw line was by Wendell Green with 1:53 left. Auburn could’ve gone ahead by two points if Green made both free throws.

Green finished with five points on 2-14 shooting and was 0-3 from three and 1-2 from the line. Auburn led 62-61 after Green’s free throw miss. Vandy scored the next four points with free throws by Robbins and Manjon to give the Commodores a three-point lead.

K.D. Johnson scored his biggest three points with less than 10 seconds left. Johnson tied the game at 65. Unfortunately, for Auburn, the layup by Manjon sent the Tigers back to the Plains with a loss. Auburn is 18-9 after the loss and 8-6 in conference action. Auburn will host Ole Miss Wednesday at Neville Arena.

“You win at the end by getting stops and getting to the free-throw line,” Pearl told reporters. “We didn’t even get in the bonus in the second half.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group

[aubiefifty 18,424]

How can Auburn basketball start closing tight games? It starts at the foul line

Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser

4–5 minutes

---

After Wendell Green Jr. made his only free throw in Auburn basketball's game against Vanderbilt on Saturday, the Tigers took a one-point lead with 1:53 remaining. It was yet another chance for coach Bruce Pearl's team to win a close game late, something that's escaped Auburn over the last month.

But just as was the case against Alabama on Feb. 11 − and Texas A&M on Feb. 7, Tennessee on Feb. 4 and West Virginia on Jan. 28 − the Tigers stumbled late, falling to the Commodores, 67-65, in Memorial Gymnasium. It's Auburn's (18-9, 8-6 SEC) sixth loss in its last eight games, with five of those defeats coming by single digits and four coming down to the final minute.

Dropping the matchup with Vanderbilt was the most heartbreaking yet. The Tigers came in after trouncing Missouri on Tuesday, 89-56, and could've been tied for third place in the SEC with a win. Instead, they're a game back from a top-four seed with just four contests remaining.

JOHN COHEN:Exclusive John Cohen Q&A: Auburn AD discusses Hugh Freeze, Butch Thompson, facilities upgrades

THE LOSS:Auburn basketball stunned late by Vanderbilt as Tigers guards go silent

Pearl was asked about what the message to his team will be following another tight loss. After a five-second pause and a shake of his head, he responded: "To win at the end, you've got to get stops and you have to get to the foul line. We never even got into the bonus in the second half. You win by getting stops and getting to the free-throw line."

Johni Broome was 3-of-4 on his free throws. The rest of the team finished 2-of-6.

Conversely, the Commodores went to the charity stripe 27 times. Fifth-year big Liam Robbins made good on 17 of his 20 free throws, helping him finish with a game-high 24 points.

After Auburn's loss to the Crimson Tide − a matchup that saw Alabama get to the free-throw line 17 times in the second half − Pearl stressed the need for his team to defend without fouling. He doubled down two days later previewing the Missouri game.

 

Vanderbilt guard Trey Thomas (12) shoots past Auburn forward Johni Broome (4) during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.

 

"Alabama's a tough cover," Pearl said Monday. "They're tough getting downhill. Texas A&M, obviously, was a tough cover (on Feb. 7). They shot 39 free throws. Alabama shot 17 in the second half. It's just hard to win. ... We have to compete to stay in front without fouling."

Auburn has four games remaining, and three of those matchups will be against teams in the top four of the SEC. There's still opportunity left for the Tigers to pick up a big win or two ahead of the conference tournament, but time is quickly running out.

"Once again, really disappointed," Pearl said of the Vanderbilt loss. "(I) thought we played well enough defensively. (We) hold Vanderbilt six below their (season average) at home. Hold them to 20 field goals. I'm not sure if Vanderbilt has won a game (this season) where they've had only 20 field goals."

The Commodores were previously 0-3 in those contests: losses to Grambling State, Alabama and Kentucky. In those games, they were outscored 234-159, and only against Grambling State did they have 15 or more free throws, matching the total against Auburn with 27.

Against Kentucky and Alabama, Vanderbilt went to the free-throw line just 12 and 11 times, respectively.

"Liam Robbins was a handful," Pearl said. "He made three two-point baskets and was 17 for 20 from the foul line. Hard to beat."

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.