3/2/23 Auburn Basketball Articles

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Very unhappy Pearl calls overtime loss at Alabama a 'joke'

Mark Murphy

6–7 minutes

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TUSCALOOSA, Alabama–Coach Bruce Pearl called what happened to his Tigers a “joke” as his Auburn basketball team lost 90-85 in overtime to Alabama on Wednesday night in Coleman Coliseum. Three Tigers fouled out in the game, another left the game after being injured, which helped the home team overcome a 17-point deficit.

“Obviously we had a hard time staying in front of them, but at the end of the day I am just sick and tired of our guys getting smashed down there,” Pearl said about the lack of foul calls when Auburn drove to the basket compared to when Alabama players drove to the basket. “Smashed.” Auburn was called for 29 fouls, nine more than the home team.

The Tigers had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Wendell Green missed a jump shot from just outside the foul line. Alabama scored first in the overtime and held on for the victory. “We got a middle ball screen, Wendell got a good look,” Pearl said. “That would have been a great way to end it.”

Pearl said he really liked his team's effort. "We played hard, we played physically," he said. "We did the best job we could to keep them off the offensive boards." Each team finished with 13 offensive rebounds.

The coach pointed out the loss was a tough for another reason. "We needed that one to get in the NCAA (Tournament) and we didn't get it," he said after his team dropped to 19-11 for the season and 9-8 in the SEC. Alabama, which is ranked No. 2 nationally, clinched the SEC title as it improved its league record to 16-1 and its overall mark to 26-4.

Auburn got 21 points off the bench from K.D. Johnson, who hit 4-5 three-pointers. He helped the Tigers lead the game for 36 minutes and 53 seconds.

Allen Flanigan scored 17 points and pulled in eight rebounds before fouling out.

Jaylin Williams scored 15 points before fouling out.

Johni Broome fouled out with 10 points and five rebounds with the fifth foul on a strange call in which Pearl said his center was tackled by the Alabama defense. Two Alabama players who were on the bench, Charles Bediako and Rylan Griffen, were ejected from the game for going onto the court at the 7:31 mark of the second half after a long delay for a video review on the play that resulted in a foul on Broome. Technical fouls were called on Auburn's Green and Alabama's Quinerly, who shot two free throws. Broome, who led the Tigers in assists with four, saw his night end after playing 24 minutes.

The Tigers opened the game with a Williams three on the opening possession and led the entire first half.

Auburn built the lead to 10 points on a free throw by Chris Moore at the 6:13 mark. The Tigers built their lead to as many as 12 points when Green made both ends of a one-and-one to put the Tigers up 35-23 at the 2:40 mark.

Williams led the Tigers at the half in scoring with 10 points. Johnson scored nine off the bench and Tre Donaldson scored seven points off the bench.

Jaylin Williams looks to pass the ball on Wedesday night in Tuscaloosa. (Photo: AU Photo)

Auburn hit 14-26 field goals (53.8 percent), 6-8 threes and 6-9 free throws in the first half and was plus three in rebounds. Alabama hit 11-28 field goals (39.3 percent), 3-13 threes and 8-11 free throws. The Tide turned the ball over nine times in the first half, one less than the Tigers.

Auburn built the lead back to double figures at 54-44 with 15:33 on three inside baskets by Broome. The Tigers led by 17 points with 10:49 on two free throws by Johnson. However, after that the Tide went on a 14-0 run and managed to tie the contest at 73-73 with 2:47 to play.

Alabama went up 75-73 on two free throws by Quinerly before Flanigan tied the game on a drive to the basket with 55 seconds left. He then blocked a shot with 25 seconds left, setting up Auburn’s opportunity to win the contest in regulation.

For the game Auburn hit 29-63 field goals (46 percent), 12-20 threes and 15-24 free throws. Alabama made 29-66 field goals for 43.9 percent, 8-31 threes and 24-31 free throws.

Jahvon Quinerly, who sparked the second half Tide comeback, led all scorers with 24 points. The Tide got 17 points apiece from Brandon Miller, Mark Sears and Noah Clowney, who added eight rebounds along with Miller.

"Johni Broome fouls out with like 10 minutes to go in the game and he is plus 10 on the night," Pearl said.  Auburn, which had built a double-digit lead in rebounding margin, finished with 39 to one more from Alabama, which closed the rebounding gap in the second half of regulation and overtime.

Auburn turned the ball over 18 times, four more than Alabama, which held an 18-13 advantage in points off of turnovers. 

Worth Noting: Dylan Cardwell injured his ankle in overtime and Pearl said he doubts that the center will be available for the Tennessee game. Pearl said that there was an obvious foul on the play that was not called.

Praise for Moore: Although he scored just three points, Pearl singled out a backup for praise. "Chris Moore was fantastic. Chris Moore's defense on Brandon Miller was great to hold Brandon Miller to just three baskets."

Season High: Tre Donaldson's seven points are the season-high for the freshman guard.

40 for Flanigan: Senior guard/forward Allen Flanigan reached double figures for points for the 40th time while playing for the Tigers.

Stat of the Game: The Tigers made a dozen threes on 20 tries. In addition to Johnson making 4-5, Flanigan hit 3-5.

Box Score

55COMMENTS

Up Next: The Tigers close their regular season schedule with a 1 p.m. CST home game on Saturday vs. Tennessee.

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5 takeaways from Auburn's overtime loss at Alabama

Nathan King

9–11 minutes

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TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — Auburn led for most of the evening against the No. 2 team in the country. But by the time overtime came, the Tigers had run out of gas — and bodies — and fell in yet another narrow loss against a high-level opponent.

Only this one looked, late in the second half, like it was on its way to being not only an NCAA Tournament-clinching victory, but one of the best wins of the college basketball season. Instead, the Tigers fell 90-85 in overtime inside Coleman Coliseum, as Alabama scored 41 of the game's final 60 points, erasing Auburn's 17-point second-half lead.

"I'm really proud of our guys," Bruce Pearl said postgame. 'To give them confidence, I said — what happens is you lose those games, you lose confidence, you lose it in yourself, you lose it in your teammates, you lose it in what we do. I was like, 'Look, we should be confident. You guys have paid the price. You guys have worked really, really hard.' So the most important thing is to not lose your confidence."

Here are Auburn Undercover's five takeaways from the Tigers' sixth single-digit road loss of the season.

SEC champs too much in overtime

Jaden Bradley found Noah Clowney under the basket for a dunk, and a Mark Sears transition 3-pointer gave Alabama 5 quick points to open overtime.

Allen Flanigan responded with 5 straight points of his own, first from the foul line, then on a stepback 3-pointer.

Two possessions later, though, the foul trouble continued to wear on the Tigers, as Allen Flanigan fouled out on an offensive foul, Alabama leading 82-80 with three minutes left. Bradley then went under the basket to score, plus the foul, sending Jaylin Williams out of the game, too.

Dylan Cardwell had to be taken out of the game, too, after coming down hard on the court and grabbing his ankle. He hobbled off the floor, and 6-foot-6 Chris Moore came in to play center.

"We were just incredibly outnumbered there at the end," Pearl said.

The Tigers still weren’t out of it, though, after yet another huge basket by K.D. Johnson, who had his best game of the year. He hit a 3-pointer with 1:52 left to trim Alabama’s lead to 85-83.

The teams traded 2-point trips, and Wendell Green Jr. fouled Bradley. But Bradley only made 1-of-2, giving Auburn a chance for a tying 3-pointer, or a quick 2-point basket. Johnson was blocked by Clowney, Alabama got back running in transition, and Brandon Miller put the game away at the foul line, clinching the SEC outright title for the Crimson Tide.

Auburn takes control in second half

Auburn withstood a fiery opening to the second half for the Crimson Tide, which made three straight triples, including two from Sears, to trim the Tigers’ lead down to one possession.

Once again, all the momentum in an often-shushed Coleman Coliseum shifted back to the home team.

And Auburn once again swung back hard, this time courtesy of Flanigan, who buried two straight 3-pointers. Auburn stretched its lead back to double digits, including its largest of the game at a 56-44 advantage, thanks to a 14-2 run. Johni Broome scored 6 straight points on the interior to lead the run.

But Alabama's big run forces overtime

Auburn had a 17-point lead with 10 minutes in the game, as Alabama’s shooting touch from beyond the arc continued to struggle; the Crimson Tide missed 20 of their first 27 attempts from deep.

But after a timeout from Pearl when the Tide had drawn within 12, Alabama’s almost-inevitable-feeling run finally came. Helped by four Auburn turnovers in three minutes, and a continued scoring output from guard Jahvon Quinerly (game-high 24 points), Alabama went on a 16-0 run.

With the Crimson Tide in the early stages of the run, having scored nine straight points, Green Jr. and Quinerly got into it under the basket after a turnover forced by Quinerly. The officials went to the monitor for more than 10 minutes — and chatted with Pearl and Oats at the scorer’s table for another minute — and the result was the ejection of Alabama’s Rylan Griffen and Charles Bediako, who ran onto the court from the bench.

Green Jr. and Quinerly were both administered technicals. And in the process, Broome fouled out with 7:30 remaining, after he and Quinerly went for the ball on the baseline.

Quinerly continued to find the basket, and as the run ballooned to 12-0, Pearl called another timeout, his team leading 66-61 with 6:13 left.

With the running sitting at 14-0, Cardwell had a chance to carve out some points with a one-and-one opportunity at the foul line. But he airballed the first, continuing the hot stretch for the Crimson Tide.

Another reminder that Auburn was without one of the best rim protectors in the SEC, Broome, for most of the run.

"He's our starting center," Pearl said. "Probably shoots the fewest number of free throws of any center in the league — and he's in foul trouble every game."

Auburn finally found the basket on a feed from Johnson to Green Jr. under the basket, snapping 16 straight points by Alabama. The Tigers had missed six straight shots prior to Green Jr.’s first field goal of the game, after shooting 9-of-15 from the floor to open the second half.

Johnson then botched two straight free throws, but Moore pulled in his third offensive rebound of the game, and Johnson was given another chance after another foul. He buried both this time, putting Auburn up 70-67 with just over three minutes remaining.

Almost identical to a step-back triple he hit in last year’s meeting in Tuscaloosa, Green Jr. pulled up and buried a 31-footer to push Auburn’s lead to 73-69 with under three minutes.

Quinerly continued to attack Auburn’s interior defense, though, as Williams was positioned at the 5 spot. Quinerly scored, plus the foul, on Alabama’s next possession.

Alabama took its first lead of the entire game, 75-73 on two more Quinerly free throws, with 1:37 left.

After Sears missed a transition 3-pointer, Flanigan pushed a rebound ahead to Green Jr., who found Flanigan trailing for a tying basket, 75-75 with a minute left.

Oats called timeout with 45.7 seconds left in the game. Sears stepped out of bounds in the corner, though, Green Jr. couldn’t hit a pull-up 2-pointer with 4 seconds remaining, and overtime came at 75-75.

"We just ran a middle ball screen, (Green Jr.) had a chance to get a shot or throw the ball to Jaylin in the corner," Pearl said. "He had a pretty clean look. It goes in and we're celebrating."

Johnson leads Auburn bench barrage

Pearl had been pleading with his bench for more production this season — not only to take pressure off its top players, but simply to give Auburn the extra scoring burst it’s been needing to push through and win some of its close games down the stretch.

And Pearl got some huge buckets from his bench, particularly two guards, when the Tigers couldn’t have needed them more.

Johnson and backup point guard Tre Donaldson gave Auburn not only quality minutes, but they shot a combined 6-of-9 with 16 points.

Johnson then landed an absolute missile during Auburn’s second-half scoring run, catching an outlet pass in transition from Flanigan, taking two dribbles, stepping back and drilling a 3-pointer right at the under-12 timeout.

That gave him 12 points on 3-for-3 shooting. He finished with 21 points, a new season best for the junior. Auburn's bench outscored Alabama's 34-29.

"I thought the bench was terrific," Pearl said. "I thought Tre Donaldson stepped up and played with a lot of confidence. K.D. is an athlete that's hard to stay in front of. He, obviously, was 4-for-5 from three and was pretty effective. He got to the line 12 times. Did a good job driving downhill. But the bench was great, too. Chris Moore was fantastic. Chris Moore's defense on Brandon Miller was great. To hold Brandon Miller to just three baskets and two assists, six turnovers, we obviously did a great job on him."

After Alabama tied the game 42-42 less than two minutes into the second half, Auburn went on a 22-5 run, with Johnson contributing 7 of those points off the bench.

Key stat

For a large chunk of the first half, it seemed if Auburn wasn’t turning the ball over, it was hitting a 3-pointer.

The Tigers offset a whopping nine turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game by starting 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. The 3-ball was Auburn’s primary method to punch back whenever the Crimson Tide gathered momentum.

Williams buried two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the game. He later got a steal from Alabama in transition, then rifled the pass to Johnson, who cashed his first triple of the evening. Two possessions later, Donaldson buried a pull-up jumper to give the Tigers a quick 7-0 run, forcing Oats into a timeout.

Auburn ultimately made eight of its first 10 attempts from downtown, including a shot from the corner by Lior Berman, off a great pass by Broome, with under a minute until halftime.

A transition 3-pointer by Johnson right before the under-12 timeout gave Auburn an unreal 9-of-11 start from beyond the arc.

Auburn wasn't as much of a blowtorch down the stretch, but it still went 4-of-9 from beyond the arc in the second half.

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No. 2 Alabama rallies, beats rival Auburn 90-85 in overtime

JOHN ZENOR AP Sports Writer

4–5 minutes

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Jahvon Quinerly scored 24 points, Brandon Miller made the clinching free throws with six seconds left and No. 2 Alabama rallied from a 17-point deficit before beating archrival Auburn 90-85 in overtime on Wednesday night.

The Crimson Tide (26-4, 16-1 Southeastern Conference) clinched outright their second regular-season SEC title in three years but continued to live on the edge over a troubling eight days that included courtroom revelations in a capital murder trial.

Miller rebounded teammate Jaden Bradley’s missed dunk and drew a foul, making both free throws. Noah Clowney had blocked KD Johnson’s layup attempt on the other end.

The Tigers (19-11, 9-8), who had three key players foul out, couldn’t close it out after leading almost the entire way in regulation. They were up 17 with under 11 minutes left.

Alabama won its fourth straight but the past three have gone down to the wire since courtroom revelations tied freshmen Miller and Bradley to the scene of a murder. Neither has been charged or accused of a crime, but then-teammate Darius Miles and another man are facing capital murder charges.

Police said Miles texted Miller asking him to bring the gun.

Quinerly tied his season scoring high after coming off the bench and had six assists. Miller, Clowney and Mark Sears all had 17 points for Alabama.

Miller committed six turnovers but made 10 of 11 free throws. Bradley scored all six of his points in overtime, going 3 of 4 on free throws over the final minute.

Johnson was 4 of 5 on 3-pointers and led Auburn with 21 points, despite shooting just 7 of 12 at the free throw line.

Allen Flanigan scored 17 points and Jaylin Williams 15 before both fouled out in overtime. Johni Broome had already picked up his fifth foul with 10 points.

At the end of this night, the Tide were celebrating the SEC title and cutting down the nets.

Miller dropped his pat-down routine from the pregame introductions, instead settling for a shoulder bump with a teammate. After Saturday’s game against Arkansas, Alabama coach Nate Oats apologized for not halting the pat-downs in light of the murder trial and promised they wouldn’t continue.

A melee near Auburn’s basket led to technical fouls on Quinerly and Auburn’s Wendell Green Jr. with 7:31 left. The Tide’s Rylan Griffen and starting center Charles Bediako were ejected for leaving the bench.

Quinerly gave Alabama its first lead on a pair of free throws with 1:37 left in the second half, making it 75-73, but Flanigan tied it with a layup inside the final minute. Neither team scored in regulation after that, with Green missing a contested jumper at the end.

BIG PICTURE

Auburn: Started 8 of 10 from 3-point range and finished 12 of 20 (60%). … Has dropped eight of 11 games and missed a chance to make a huge statement for the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

Alabama: Continued its struggles since the courtroom revelations about Miller and Bradley, having been taken to overtime by South Carolina and edging Arkansas, 86-83. … Alabama has made just 11 of 53 shots from 3-point range over the past two games. … The Tide finished with a perfect home record for the third time and first since the 2010-11 season.

UP NEXT

Auburn hosts No. 12 Tennessee on Saturday in the regular-season finale.

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i am not sure if any wanted to see highlights of the game but i decided to post them just in case.