Jabari Smith studied YouTube videos. Walker Kessler kept score. A grad assistant was the pool shark, moments made Auburn basketball's season special.
As he stood in the corner of the gym reminiscing about his father’s pool games, Smith had reason to beam. The pool table mirrored Smith’s pursuit of a perfect shot on the basketball court. Smith was consumed by his inability to beat Harrell in the beginning. He grew up playing on a table at his family’s house, so “he was a little advanced,” Smith said. In one bittersweet year, it became a true team. His proudest moment was a game-winning ricochet shot. The composition of this roster was its youth and unfamiliarity. “Walker is keeping score in his phone Notes,” Harrell said, shaking his head. Harrell won the first game. The 18-year-old started watching YouTube videos to improve his craft. Jabari would hunch over the table and watch as his dad shot pool with friends. A 2019 addition, it was mostly untouched by Auburn’s basketball team.
It was likely superstar Jabari Smith's last game before he heads to the NBA draft, and the result comes as a disappointment after the No. 2 seed Tigers have ...
The Hurricanes shot 48 percent from the field and scored 30 points off fast breaks to Auburn’s single point. Despite out-rebounding Miami in total rebounds, the Tigers only managed to shoot 30 percent from the field across the night. Although the Tigers out-rebounded the Hurricanes by a total of 47-39, they got beat out on defensive rebounds 33-30. The Tigers’ KD Johnson scored 12 points on Sunday, tied for the team’s most with Jaylin Williams, but he also turned the ball over four times over the course of the game. The margins may seem very small, but everything counts in the NCAA Tournament and Auburn allowing Miami to take more of its chances to score certainly hurt in the long run. To put it bluntly, Auburn’s efficiency from three was awful.
It all flamed out on Sunday evening in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 2 -seeded Tigers were dispatched in dominant fashion by No. 10 seed ...
For the ACC, Miami joins Duke and North Carolina in moving on to the Sweet 16. Jim Larranaga is going back to the Sweet 16 for the third time at Miami and the fourth time in his career. It all flamed out on Sunday evening in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 2 -seeded Tigers were dispatched in dominant fashion by No. 10 seed Miami 79-61.
Auburn reflected on the biggest takeaway from its historic season, which abruptly ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Miami.
“It felt like home when we first met.”Auburn believed it was talented enough and deep enough to vie for championships, and Pearl got the players to buy in quicker than many could have reasonably expected.“When you bring in a lot of new guys and transfers from a lot of different places, everybody’s kind of different, it kind of takes a while for groups to normally click and get in sync,” said Allen Flanigan, the lone returner in the starting lineup this season. When we got on the court together, we just synced, and it’s been great since.”Even if it wasn’t so great Sunday, when a dream season abruptly ended.Pearl said afterward that this team hadn’t been hit in the mouth like it was against Miami — ironic, considering Williams took a friendly-fire elbow to the face two days earlier, sustaining a pair of chipped teeth against Jacksonville State. Williams bounced back following dental work to fix his teeth, finishing with a team-high 12 points off the bench while knocking down a pair of corner 3-pointers late in the first half as Auburn cut the deficit to one at halftime.When Miami took another swing coming out of halftime, though, Auburn had no answer. A throng of Auburn fans sprinkled the stands inside the mostly empty Bon Secours Wellness Arena late Sunday night, the Tigers walking off the court for the final time this season.Auburn’s historic season — one of the best in program history — was over, succumbing to 10th-seeded Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, 79-61. It’s how a restructured roster — with four transfers and a freshman phenom — exceeded preseason expectations and turned in one of the most memorable seasons in program history. They won more games on the road than any team in the SEC in league play, and we have the best homecourt advantage in league play.“That’s why we were able to finish. There were lessons in ball security, Auburn’s 13 turnovers leading to 17 points on a night that Miami also outpaced the Tigers, 30-1, in transition.Beyond the X’s and O’s, however, there was a bigger lesson Auburn’s players took away from their season-ending loss and the journey that led them from the SEC’s No. 5 team in the preseason, to (for a few weeks) the No. 1 team in the country, eventual SEC regular-season champions and the top No. 2 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.“It just felt like a family,” Smith said after what was likely his final college game. Wendell Green Jr. joined after spending his freshman season at Eastern Kentucky.Then there was Smith, the five-star freshman who became the program’s second-ever consensus All-American and exceeded even the loftiest of expectations throughout the season.Four of those five were starters on this team, while Green was the sixth man and the Tigers’ third-leading scorer. In the locker room afterward, Bruce Pearl solemnly addressed his players, many still fighting through the tears and the pain and the heartbreak of championship aspirations shattered in Greenville, S.C.Read more Auburn hoops: Miami’s trademark defense sends Auburn scrambling out of March MadnessAuburn’s postseason run stalls out in second round against Miami“One of the things we talked about after the game was what can we learn from this?” Pearl said. “What can we learn?”There were lessons of the value of experience, especially in the postseason; Auburn’s best player, Jabari Smith, was just 18 and played far from his best game. ‘More than basketball’: Auburn treasures bond of historic team after NCAA Tournament lossFeb 24, 2022; Greenville, SC, USA; Bruce Pearl talks to the bench during the game between Auburn and Miami in the Round of 32 in Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Shannon/AU AthleticsMatthew Shannon/AU AthleticsChris Moore draped his arm around K. D. Johnson’s shoulders as they ducked into the tunnel and into the locker room. Miami had four sixth-year seniors, with three of them — Charlie Moore, Kameron McGusty and Sam Waardenburg — all coming up big in the Round of 32. AlabamaChevron that denotes content that can open up.
Auburn's early exit invalidated a historic season for the program. It has been a brutal NCAA Tournament for the SEC, and Auburn didn't help.
Even with Smith and Kessler certainly and likely headed to the NBA, Pearl helped the overall prestige of the program and put Auburn basketball a bit more on the national map than it had been before. Only once in 8 seasons on The Plains has he topped that production. Auburn’s top player — and arguably the best freshman in the nation — picked a terrible time for his worst game of the season. In 8 seasons at Auburn, Bruce Pearl has now amassed 166 wins, but only 6 wins in the NCAA Tournament. Yes, winning 4 games in 2019 and taking the Tigers to their first Final Four berth earns some goodwill that an NCAA disappointment will not take away. For Auburn, after a season where the Tigers leaped to No. 1 and a 22-1 mark in early February, the Tigers finished with a 6-5 stretch, with losses in that span to Florida, Texas A&M and Miami. In January, the Tigers looked like a well-oiled machine. With Auburn’s offensive misfire, the SEC’s top 3 teams finished the NCAA Tournament a combined 2-3, with none of the group headed to the NCAA Sweet 16.
The #15 seed St. Peter's Peacocks handled the wily Wildcats (and later Auburn ally Murray State in the Round of 32) but the Miami Hurricanes ravaged the Tigers ...
1 off game in the tournament could be your last. Miami hit tough shots all game and played great on both ends. Still feel like we were the best team in the country.
With the way the round of 32 has gone so far this weekend, betting lines have been nowhere close to a sure thing. Gonzaga survived against Memphis, ...
Auburn's guard play between Zep Jasper, K. D. Johnson and Wenall Green Jr. will all need to play outstanding perimeter defense to give Auburn the best chance of slowing down Miami's offense. With the way the round of 32 has gone so far this weekend, betting lines have been nowhere close to a sure thing. If both teams play as they did in their games on Friday, this will not be a close contest.
Auburn's season ended with a 79-61 loss to Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
We missed a lot of balls around the rim, just a ton around the basket. Down the stretch as it’s sort of slipping away, is it a little harder to sort of find the answers with a team as young as this one? I take great pride in the consistency of our program’s success, and I’m ready to build it back. So we needed to have them both out there on the floor a little bit. They get off to the good start, and again you’ve got all the momentum going in at the half. Zep was disrupted passing out of the double-team and things that we knew they were going to do that we hoped to take advantage of the double-team, and we really never did. But when they hit us in the mouth again at the start of the second half, I thought of going with a different starting lineup, and I probably should have because of how poorly we started. In the A&M game, we came back, and I don’t know what it got down to, it was like four late, something like that. It’s like sometimes when you talk to the losing coach and he doesn’t have the answers, because I didn’t have the answers. I feel like that’s what I’ll take from it, just the challenges I faced, the good times I had, the bad games, the good games, just taking it with me and taking Auburn. Just thanking them for everything. Just being your first year in college basketball to have the season you guys did, I know it’s tough to reflect in this moment, but what overall are you taking forward with you from this team? We hang out every day, the four of us, the five of us, the whole team.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga was motivated to beat Auburn basketball in the NCAA Tournament when Charles Barkley pledged to celebrate shirtless if Auburn won.
He went on to express his respect for Auburn coach Bruce Pearl and the Tigers' program. The Hurricanes routed Auburn 79-61 to end the Tigers' 2021-22 season. Auburn (28-6) was the SEC regular-season champion and a No. 2 seed in the tournament, but it never led Sunday in a flat performance.
Auburn's season came to a close Sunday with a 79-61 loss to Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Smith had perhaps the worst shooting night of his season. The Tigers All-American duo of Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler struggled to make the impact they usually do. After trailing the entire first half Auburn cut the lead to 33-32 at half but came out of the break cold and watched the Hurricanes go on an 8-0 run to take a comfortable lead.
Auburn fell to Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, as the Hurricanes are off to the Sweet 16 and the Tigers are going home.
This Auburn team was incredible to watch and gave us so much joy this season. Hats off to Miami. pic.twitter.com/gPiqMxY37n Bruce Pearl’s team has a potential No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick and a host of surrounding talent.
Auburn basketball Walker Kessler struggles against Miami in NCAA Tournament after picking up two early fouls.
Kessler transferred to Auburn from North Carolina after his freshman season. The fouls limited Kessler to two points, two rebounds and two blocks. From there he spent most of the game on the bench, playing 13 minutes.
-- Jaylin Williams is on the court warming up for the Tigers. Pearl said he practiced and Williams appears available for the game. -- K.D. Johnson, Jabari Smith ...
-- Flanigan scored Auburn’s first field goal with 16:31 left in the first half. -- Jaylin Williams hits Auburn’s third and fourth field goal and Auburn trails 19-12 with less than 11 minutes left in the half. --Charlie Moore hits a three and Auburn is down 13-6. -- Auburn is shooting 6-22 in the half. Auburn is down 19-14 after a Jabari Smith layup with 8:30 left. The Tigers trail 21-14 with 7:53 left in the first half. Auburn is shooting 8-24 from the field. -- Auburn is down 53-43 with 11:44 left. Auburn is shooting 8-12 from the charity stripe in the half. The Tigers have hit four consecutive shots from the field and are down 33-32 with 53 seconds left. Auburn trails 64-53 with 6:27 left in the contest. -- Auburn is down 70-58 with 3:04 left.
SportsLine's model revealed its college basketball picks for Miami vs. Auburn during the second round of March Madness 2022.
Auburn? And which side of the spread hits well over 50 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its college basketball picks, and find out. The model also says one side of the spread hits well over 50 percent of the time. SportsLine's model is leaning over on the point total, projecting the teams to combine for 147 points. In his last outing, the Georgia native tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks. Miami and revealed its coveted picks and predictions for the NCAA Tournament 2022. Green Jr. is a shifty guard who can get to the basket in a hurry. The Miami Hurricanes (23-10) and Auburn Tigers (28-5) square off in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening. On March 11 against Texas A&M, Green Jr. finished with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, and went 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. Miami picks, be sure to check out the college basketball predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's proven computer model. You can head to SportsLine to see all of the model's college basketball picks. The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times.
Auburn basketball's dream season ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an upset from 10-seed Miami. Here's how.
While Smith shot 2-for-10 in the first half, Williams provided life support on offense. When Kessler picked up two fouls in the first four minutes, coach Bruce Pearl was forced into a delicate game management situation. Kessler was in foul trouble early and was out of sorts when he returned in the second half. A team with four sixth-year seniors was getting the best of Auburn's inexperience. Miami was one of the worst remaining defenses in the tournament field, only saved by opponents' 13.8 turnovers per game. Three years after reaching the Final Four as a No. 5 seed, they fell short of the Sweet 16 as a No. 2.