My post game thoughts from a tired, addled mind...
Just made it home from the game. I have never seen an opposing team play better against Auburn. (in a game where we were not making huge mistakes) UT shot the ball lights out in the first half. It was unreal how many possession they went at one point with made buckets. They were hitting contested long 2s and 3s with hands in their faces. When they took the lead 35-24 with 5 to play, it would have been very easy for our guys to fold. We were facing one of the best teams in the country and they were playing their A++ game. Our effort the next 5 minutes going into the half was stellar on defense to slow down their attack. The no call on Jared's attempted layup in the last couple of minutes where he was absolutely mugged was one of the worst calls I've seen this year. To get to the half down only 6 though was quite a feat. UT could have easily buried us by 15+ with the way they were playing.
Coming out of the half and hitting the first shot was huge. We set the tone immediately that we were going to battle the whole way. Erasing their lead and pulling ahead less than 2 minutes into the half was one of our most impressive starts of a half on the season. If that half starts with them hitting a couple of buckets and getting up by 10+, it would have been really tough for us to fight our way back into it. The rest of the way was a heavy weight fight. UT played like the best team in the country and we answered them big shot for big shot. The refs continued to give Williams the benefit of every doubt and yet our guys managed to overcome it. Jared was not having a great scoring game, but after Williams tied it up at 69, Jared answers with back to back 3s. UT got the gift of all time on the phantom flagrant call on a contested rebound because yet again, Williams was involved in the play and it still wasn't enough to derail us. What an incredible way for our seniors to go out with our first W over a top 5 team since 1994. Malik hasn't been here the whole time and Cole hasn't played big minutes, but both have made big impacts. Over the course of Horace and Bryce's 4 years as major contributors at AU, Bruce has taken this program from a perpetual cellar dweller to a team that wins nationally significant games in March. We are so lucky the stars aligned for him to end up at AU.
(we are also lucky to have the best video production crew in the business)
This was Chuma's best game as a Tiger. He went toe to toe with the SEC POY year and matched him offensively with 22 points. On top of that, he added 4 huge steals, 5 boards, and a block all while committing only 2 fouls. If Chuma continues to play like this, we are going to be a very dangerous team in the tournament. We need to enjoy every game from Chuma the rest of the way because he may play his way into the 1st round of the NBA draft over the next few weeks. This is the kind of play that will get scout's attention.
Much like the bama game this week, Jared was not having one of his best days as a scorer for most of the game going 0-5 up the first 35 minutes of the game from deep. One mark of a great athlete is the ability to elevate your game in crunch time, especially when you have not played your best up to that point. Jared came through for us again today. 10 points in the final 6:55 is unreal. Final line of 16pts, 8 assists to only 2 turnovers was stellar.
Samir takes a lot of criticism. Of our starters, he has had the lowest floor this year and has not helped us this year in some big games. He came through huge today when the chips were down. Having the awareness to catch a blocked shot by Williams and drain a critical 3 was as good of a play as anyone has made for us this year with a game on the line.
What can you say about Bryce? To go out with a win like this in the final home game of a legendary career is incredible. UT focused heavily on guarding Bryce and he still delivered a vintage performance going 4/9 from deep with 16 points and played great D all day adding a couple steals. Bryce is now #5 all time in the SEC in 3 pointers and sits only 4 behind #4 and 26 behind #2. If we go on a run in Nashville and the NCAAT, Bryce has an excellent shot to end up only behind Bruce's greatest shooter, Chris Lofton, on the all time SEC list.
While I was thrilled with the SEC title last year, this season could not be playing out more differently. We have won 6/7 and just got our signature win for the season. We have all the momentum we could ask for heading to the SEC tournament and the best draw possible to make a run to the finals. Beat the winner of Mizzou/UGA and we are at 23 wins and likely have a 5 seed in the tournament locked up. Take revenge on USCe and we will be in the discussion for a 4 seed. Presumably we would face the coachless bayou bengals next who we know we are capable of beating. Knock them off and we will be in the mix for a 3 seed and playing the final on Sunday against UK or a rematch with UT.
Even if we only win one in Nashville, a 5 seed is a good set up for the Dance. Beat a 12 in the first round and then hopefully draw a decent matchup against a 4 that does not have a dominant big man in the round of 32. Get to the second weekend and anything is possible. We already knew it, but our guys proved today they can beat anyone in the country. With the way we can shoot the ball and defend, other teams are hoping they don't end up anywhere close to us in the bracket.
