My notes on SC’s 74-71 victory over No. 19 Auburn
Auburn was founded in 1856 as East Alabama Male College, 20 yrs after the city of Auburn, Alabama’s founding. Three name changes later, they became Auburn University (AU) in 1960. AU is the 2nd largest university in AL (~25K undergrads, 31K total), and is ranked No. 1 in AL by US News & World Report (Top 50 public university). Their nickname has been the Tigers since they first fielded a football team in 1892 to play the Georgia Bulldogs. The official mascot is Aubie the Tiger. “War Eagle” is Auburn's battle cry. AU has never been the “Eagles” or “War Eagles.” They are the Tigers and they yell “War Eagle!”USC is 2-0 all-time against Auburn (wins in 1972 and 1977).
The SEC’s No. 19 Auburn Tigers are 9-1(wins over George Mason, USF, Winthrop, Texas Southern, Bradley, Northwestern, Saint Louis, Colgate, Georgia State a loss to Memphis).
Bruce Pearl teams are always strong defensively. AU is Top 15 in steals and 1st in blocks (Johni Broome is No. 4 in nation). Offensively, there is no dominant player, they rely on balanced scoring by Wendell Green Jr (13.8 ppg), Johni Broome (11.1 ppg), KD Johnson (10.9 ppg) and Jaylin Williams (9.3 ppg). As a team they only shoot 43.4% FGs, but hold opponents to 38.3%. They outrebound their opponents 39.4 rpg to 36.2 rpg.[/COLOR]
]Last year 28-6 Auburn won the SEC and would have played SC in the NCAA tourney if we had beaten Miami. These are different editions: no Mobley (No. 49 in NBA draft to Cleveland) or Chevez Goodwin for SC and no Jabari Smith (No. 3 overall to Houston Rockets) or Walker Kessler (No. 22 overall to Minnesota T-wolves) for Auburn. I think SC matches up well with these guys.[
SC is 0-2 in Quad 1 and 2 games (losses to No. 6 Tennessee nd No. 22 Wisconsin), 1-1 in Quad 3 and 7-0 in Quad 4. A win over AU would be a Quad 2 victory and enhance SC’s résumé.
In the parking structure, I run into Boogie Ellis (a good omen) and tell him to bring home a victory - he smiles and continues his path to Galen.
The Founder’s Room is not as full as I expected for our biggest non-conference home game of the season. The women’s game against Texas plays on flat screens and it doesn’t look good (they would fall to the Lady Longhorns 62-48 to drop to 9-2).
Head Coach Andy Enfield was back for the first time since the FGCU game. Looking dapper in a fashionable blue suit, he fielded a question on what prompted the change from last season’s casual look to the more formal attire (traditional garb for basketball coaches). He said he got tired of wearing the same pull over shirts and felt the relaxed look was not the best look for him and his staff. However, they went casual at the Battle4Atlantis and will for the upcoming Jerry Colangelo Classic (vs. Colorado State).
He stressed how the team was getting progressively better and are a different team than 3 wks ago. They rely on young players to step up and play in situations they are experiencing for the first time and you see them growing before our eyes.
After the Colorado St game, he will give the team 4.5 days off to spend with their families. This is especially meaningful for Harrison Hornery, whose mother and sister are here to see him for the first time since before the pandemic. Australia had covid travel restrictions which precluded them from coming previously.
Vince is progressing and will be cleared, but Andy offered no date on when that would happen. For this game, starters remain the same and all players are available, except Iaroslav, who tweaked a knee in practice.
He said they haven’t hit their stride yet offensively, but continue to defend at a high level. He noted that SC was 3rd in defensive FG% over the last 3 seasons.
He was asked what was emphasized in practice this week and if any players were showing they deserved more playing time. He said they devoted 20 min in two practices solely on rebounding. They have been -2.6 in rebounding margin this season and have been hurt by offensive boards. He said that practice and game performance determine a player’s minutes and the rotations.
I walk into the arena and am stunned to see so many empty seats. Will there be a low turnout for a game of such importance to SC’s post-season chances? The lack of students can be explained (classes are over, Xmas break started), but where is everyone else?! We landed the top player in the country and I wonder what Isaiah Collier is thinking as he watches on ESPN.
Bill Walton (love him or hate him) is doing stretches before the game, maybe he thinks he's playing – haha.
A very small band today, along with Song Girls, Dance Force and Spirit Squad. Thank God for DJ Malski, who fills the energy void. As the arena slowly starts filling up, I think that there are more AU fans than SC fans here. The AU fans have traveled well and are loud. Some are body painted with the AU logo and W-A-R E-A-G-L-E!. They have organized cheering and later do my job for me with a “Refs you suck" cheer! haha. I tell several people around me, only half-jokingly, that I’d like to trade our fans for theirs. It’s kinda depressing. If we don’t play well this game, it’s going to sound like an AU home game.
At my seats there’s a lone NBA scout from the T-Wolves behind me. I asked who he was here to see, he said no one in particular, he’d just flown in from Tucson after watching No. 9 Arizona defeat No, 6 Tennessee 75-70. Later there were would be a half dozen other scouts.
A little birdie tells me that there are 3 football commitments on the way.
The national anthem was performed by Irish tenor Dermot Kiernan who did a bang up job - brilliant. I spy the retired after 35 yrs Fairfax coach Harvey Kitani and wonder how Ethan Anderson and Max are doing at Wyoming. The Cowboys are 5-6, Ethan is averaging 6.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.4 apg in 22 mins. Max is averaging 9.9 pts, 4.1 rpg, and is 10 - 31 on 3s, with 7 assists and 16 TOs. Well, not exactly big fish in a little pond, are they?
Auburn controls the tip and we are off. Boogie comes out on fire (14 first half pts), but sits after his 2nd foul and AU seizes the momentum and leads 39-35 at the break. SC had the last shot of the half, but in some of the worst last shot execution, Drew stays out beyond the 3-pt arc and dribbles back-to--basket for 15 secs, then moves down the left sideline, gets trapped and doesn’t get a shot off. Terrible! We were rolling, then got careless with the ball and the freshmen played like freshmen and lost composure. AU capitalized scoring 14 pts off TOs in the first half to SC’s 6.
In the second half SC turned up the pressure on defense, employing a 2-2-1 press that bothered the Tigers and ate time off the clock. SC forced AU into turnovers (23 for the game), with a season high 13 steals (6 by Kobe), after averaging 7.3 steals this season.
Despite the extra rebounding in practice, SC would lose the battle on the boards, 32-19 and hasn’t out-rebounded an opponent since the Cal game on Nov 30th (40-39). This remains a concern. We need to crash the boards! Drew came into the game 3rd in the Pac12 with a team leading 7.9 rpg, but grabbed only 1 rebound in a game high 38 mins – smh.
One game after I sang his praises for being among conference leaders in rebs and assists, Drew had a pretty meh game (1 reb, 4 assists). He scored only 6 pts on 2-10 shooting, missing several scoop shots at the rim and both of his turnaround corner threes. However, the rest of the team picked him up.
The night belonged to Boogie Ellis, with a career high 28 pts (9-15 FGs, 2-5 3FGs, 8-10 FTs) and showing a complete game, defending well, aggressive on offense, driving the lane, attacking the rim, shooting with confidence. Enfield said it was definitely his best game.
USC doesn’t win this without the things that Kobe provides. Not outstanding in any one thing, but good at all things (except maybe inbounding the ball – smile). Some questioned why he was selected a team captain and I think we are beginning to see why. We rely on Kobe’s hustle, active hands, basketball IQ, and court awareness. He scored 10 pts (2-3 FGs, 6-6 FTs), had 6 steals, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He was everywhere, getting into passing lanes, deflecting balls and helping to double team AU big man Broome in the post.
Joshua Morgan continued his improved play. He scored 10 pts (3-4 FGs, 4-6 FTs), had 4 rebs and only 1 TO in 31 mins. He was No. 3 in the nation in blocks coming in, but was somehow not credited for one in this game.
In likely his best performance, Malik Thomas scored 7 pts in 7 mins and had a positive impact off the bench. We need this every game!
I need to point out something that may seem unbelievable to you, we shot FTs like the shot doctor prescribes – going 23-27 (81.5%)! AU made 19-22, but that’s a 4 pt difference in a game SC won by 3, 74-71!
My last vision is of Kobe Johnson waving goodbye to the Auburn fans, as SC collects their first win over a ranked opponent this season and their fifth straight win.
Up next is 8-4 Colorado State in the Jerry Colangelo Classic in Phoenix on Wednesday night at 8 pm PST (Pac-12 network). Anybody else going?
Fight on! Beat the Rams!
