Another day, another win for the Tigers, who with 19 victories and wins in six of their last seven games, are moving into near-lock status for the postseason.Unfortunately, I was in Auburn covering the baseball game (actually, perhaps fortunately considering the road conditions this morning), but I'll blog what I can based on the brief bits of action I saw on TV and the box score. I'll also post this picture from the Ole Miss game of Jeff Lebo, who appears to be doing some sort of disco dance.
First of all, Auburn is 19-10 overall and 8-6 in the SEC, guaranteeing the Tigers will finish at .500 in conference play for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
Secondly, the Tigers have a magic number of one to clinch the second spot in the SEC West and — get this — a first-round bye in the SEC tournament in Tampa. That means an Auburn win against either Alabama or LSU or a Mississippi State loss to Florida or Mississippi would give the Tigers the second spot in the West. Amazing.
And third, Auburn, at worst, could finish the season 19-13. A single win in either of its last two games or in the first game of the SEC tournament would give the Tigers 20 wins. It would be tough for a tournament like the NIT to deny a 20-win SEC team regardless of how down the conference is this season.
** Side note: I'm still not biting on starting any NCAA tournament talk yet. If a 19-win Kentucky team with an RPI of 61, four wins against the RPI top-50 and seven road/neutral wins is still a borderline NCAA team, how does Auburn (RPI of 84, 1-5 vs. the RPI top-50, three road/neutral wins) even enter the discussion? Beat Alabama and LSU and maybe, and I emphasize maybe, we can start that talk.
On to some notes from the game ...
- Where ya been, Auburn's bench? The Tigers' trio of Lucas Hargrove, Frankie Sullivan and Brendan Knox combined to out-score Mississippi State's bench 36-0. Holy hand grenades, that's some domination. Sullivan scored a team-high 14 points. Knox's 10 points tied a career high.
- Only one Auburn starter scored in double figures. Rasheem Barrett led the way with 12. But with bench play like that, honestly, who needs huge days out the starters?
- Auburn was 9-for-27 from 3-point range and 28-for-57 from the field. That's an efficient afternoon.
- Mississippi State (17-12, 7-7 SEC) went 9-for-30 from 3-point range. If the Bulldogs aren't making 3's, they're not winning. Ravern Johnson, the SEC's leader in 3-point percentage, went 2-for-10 from outside.
- Auburn led 38-21 at halftime after scoring the final 10 points heading into the locker room.
- The 18-point win tied for Auburn's largest margin of victory in Starkville. Auburn swept the season series from MSU for the first time since 2001.
- The Tigers have won three straight SEC road games for the first time since 2003.
- Up next: Auburn plays suddenly-resurgent Alabama (16-12, 6-8 SEC) in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday. Game time is 9 p.m. EST. The Crimson Tide has won three straight, winning at Ole Miss by 21 Sunday. The Tigers better not look past this team.
1 comment:
AU played energetic defense andscpreda variety of ways. Now, if AU can begin to shoot free throws and play organized offense and defense insteaqd of athletic, talented street ball, we can go far in tournaments.
I'm glad Lebo got them this far, but this team has a long ways to go learning fundamentals before competing against the NCAA elite.
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