Elite Eight vs. Kentucky

Sunday afternoon March Madness.
Auburn vs. Kentucky in the Elite Eight from Kansas City.
1:20 on CBS.
The Tigers are a 4.5 point underdog playing without Chuma Okeke.
Okeke has a torn ACL.  Sitting on the bench today, he will have surgery on Tuesday.

Auburn starts tight and cold from the field.
Good looks but shots not going in.
Auburn 3  Kentucky  9  15:45
Auburn 7  Kentucky 17 11:52
Good looks but shots still going in.
We could lose this game from the get-go.
Auburn 11  Kentucky 20   9:50
Auburn 13  Kentucky 22   7:53
Kentucky extends their defense to defend our three point opportunities.
Kentucky is bigger and more physical.
Auburn 17  Kentucky 27  5:00
Half: Auburn 30  Kentucky 35
As the half closes the Tigers pick it up a bit.
Sonny Smith says we need Jared Harper to penetrate the lane to open up shots.
Can we defend the lane in the second half without fouling?
Will the Tigers be a second-half team again?

40-37 Auburn out first lead 17:45
Good start to the half: a 10-0 run.
42-39 Auburn 15:47
As the half rolls on our big people get into foul trouble.  We don't need this.
46-44 Kentucky
This is an INTENSE game!
56-50 Auburn
56-52 Auburn
58-56 Auburn 3:28
Auburn is playing so hard.
60-38 Kentucky 51.9
60-60 OVERTIME!

In overtime the Tigers do it!
Jared Harper takes over.
26 points.  The tournament MVP.
We hit the necessary free throws.
Spencer is our only player to foul out.

FINAL SCORE
Auburn 77 Kentucky 71

Auburn is headed to the FINAL FOUR!
I never thought I'd live to see this.
This is a SPECIAL Auburn basketball team.

On TV we see Chuma Okeke in a chair lift the tournament trophy.
We see the Auburn players celebrating.
We win!!!
On to Minneapolis to play Virginia.
How do you beat Kansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky in a row?
Like Auburn just did it!!!

Elite Eight We Come!

Sweet Sixteen
Auburn vs. North Carolina from Kansas City
6:20 tipoff of TBS.
UNC favored by 5.

Auburn 12  UNC 14 14:54
Good rebounding by Auburn early holding our own.  This was a big concern.
More Auburn half-court than I expected.
Auburn 26  UNC 26  7:12
We have missed several layups.
Halftime Score: Auburn 41  UNC 39

The Tigers start fast to open the second half.
An 8 and 0 run.
52-41
64-54  11:18
67-54
76-57
The Tigers pull away.
8:08 Okeke is injured.  He will not return to the game.
78-68 7:02
85-72  3:21
Our bench, 17 threes, and rebounding win this game.
The Tigers drub the Tar Heels!
FINAL SCORE
Auburn 97 North Carolina 80

The Tigers move to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history.
It's good to hear Sonny Smith on the radio as he was our coach in 1986 for the first Elite Eight.
This is a great team.  it's just plain and downright exciting to watch this Auburn basketball team!

Looking Forward to It

It's special that Auburn is playing North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen, for the Tar Heels are the bluest of the blue bloods and they are seeded #1 overall I think.  Let's see how we measure up.

UNC is very good I gather.  We may lose.  We may lose big.  It concerns me that they play uptempo also.  What happens will happen.  Still just to be in this game against North Carolina is big.

Philip Marshall says:

To have a real shot, the Tigers must force turnovers, hit 3-pointers, play defense like mad men and not get completely destroyed on the boards. And even those things might not be enough.

And I would add: limit fouls.  This will be a tall order.

Sweet 16

First time since 2003, which I do not remember.  It seems like we may have played Ohio State, but I cannot remember.  In Kansas City we play legendary North Carolina.  One legendary program down, another one on the horizon.  The game tips off at 6:30.  A good time for us.  I see a line favoring NC by 5.  Good enough.

NCAA Round Two - Auburn vs. Kansas in Salt Lake City

After a tough game hanging on to beat New Mexico State, the Tigers take on Kansas, an historic basketball program.  The Tigers seem to be about a 2 point favorite.

Auburn gets off to a fast start with a 12 to 5 start.
15-5   Auburn
23-9   Auburn
28-14  Auburn
34-15  Auburn
40-20  Auburn
44-23  Auburn 3:58
This may have been the best half of Auburn basketball EVER.
We score inside, we score outside, and play great defense.
Halftime Score  Auburn 51  Kansas 25

The teams swap baskets to start the second half.  The first 12 shots combined go in.
Kansas has the FT advantage as you would expect, but never cuts the lead to a single digit.
Bryce Brown has a great night.  The Tigers are a much quicker team.  Our speed makes the Jayhawks look slow.
The final score is as close as they get.

FINAL SCORE
Auburn 89  Kansas 75

About Kansas

We move on to Kansas tomorrow night in our NCAA dance.  Kansas is an historical power in NCAA basketball.  I would like to know why basketball became so big in Kansas of all places.  There must be a story to it.  I do know that Wilt Chamberlain played there in the 50's.  The game seems to be a tossup.  Who knows.  I wish tipoff weren't so late, but it gives our team extra rest.

Surviving Salt Lake City

The Tigers survive our opening NCAA game in Salt Lake City against New Mexico State.  Auburn is not supposed to lose to a team like this even if they are a competitive team, are they?  No!

The Tigers blow a 13 point halftime lead, play poorly down the stretch, NMS plays well, and we are lucky not to lose this game.  With 1.1 left the Aggies had the ball inbounding at the baseline but their shot was an airball.  Auburn played about as bad as you play in the last minutes but hung on to win.  Tough game.  Tough win.

The Tigers prevail 78 to 77.  After running thru the SEC tournament, having to fly cross country playing in thin air, maybe we were due to have a game like this to get it out of our system.  Now on to Saturday against either Kansas or Northeastern.