Things looked even worse after the team's first exhibition game:
"Auburn will enter the regular season facing even more questions than the uncertain futures of Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy and FBI investigation into assistant coach Chuck Person after losing an exhibition to a Division-II opponent. Barry, the No. 12 ranked Division II team, rallied to a 100-95 overtime win over Auburn before a sparse, unenthused and eventually stunned announced crowd of 6,374 at Auburn Arena on Thursday.
A day that began with Auburn announcing Wiley and Purifoy are out indefinitely due to "potential eligibility issues" in connection with the federal corruption case against Person ended with Auburn losing an exhibition to a D-II team for the first time since Nov. 8, 2010 (54-52 vs. Columbus State) under former coach Tony Barbee."
I already thought it was over for the program and when I saw this I knew it was over. IT WAS OVER. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl did not agree and though nobody would believe him at the time, he prophesied that this team was not done:
"I'd be optimistic," the fourth-year Auburn coach said. "We have a good team. We lost to a good team. I think they've got reason to be optimistic because we've got a lot of weapons. We've got good depth. I can just tell you that, I'd say about half the roster didn't play as well as they typically play. We had four or five guys that did not play well - that doesn't happen very often. I think that contributes a lot. Certainly, Danjel and Austin are two of our top three players, but we've got enough right now without them to still be able to win. I'm not discouraged."
"I'd be optimistic", "We have a good team", "I'm not discouraged"... I think he believed it when he said it because of how he led the team through the rest of the season. It is simply one of the most incredible jobs of coaching I have ever seen in any sport. The Tigers would get a couple of insignificant wins after losing to Barry and then lose to Temple. It again looked just like any another horrible basketball season of which Auburn's history is full. Auburn lost to Temple on November 17 and that is when it started. The team came together and would not lose again for two full months.
I am not sure when I noticed something different about this team. Let there be no doubt I had completely given up on them and this program and I had better things to do with my time than watch another bad Auburn basketball team. However I still would see the scores roll in. I noticed the Tigers beat two very good mid-major programs in Dayton and George Mason but I pretty much just raised an eyebrow and not much more. Auburn then destroyed UConn at home and that elicited from me a pretty good "huh..." but again not much more. I think it was in the SEC opener that this team demanded to be noticed.
Auburn travelled to Tennessee to open the 2018 conference season. Auburn had not won in Knoxville in almost 20 years in hoops. I am sure it had been much longer since the Tigers had beaten a ranked Vols team over there if ever. Auburn would beat the Vols 94-84 on their own home court. No one could possibly know that this game turned out to be the SEC regular season championship game. I mean WOW. Looking back this win was probably Auburn's biggest of the season. This win would give them the tie-breaker over the Vols at the end of the season and the #1 seed in the SEC tournament. They would award the Vols a "share" of the title but there can be only one #1 seed and Auburn was it.
This was definitely when I had to start re-thinking every thing I had assumed about this team. I mean beating a good Tennessee team on the road??? I did not think we would win on the road all season! The Tigers followed that up by beating a ranked Arkansas team at home. I think everyone who followed the basketball team at all was wondering what was up. Auburn would then beat both Mississippi schools including State on the road to bring their winning streak to 14 games. The Tigers would then lose a close one in Tuscaloosa and that was where I regressed and went back to being doubtful of whether Auburn would have a winning record in conference since it had not happened in 17 YEARS (!!!).
The Tigers would then rip off another five game winning streak including two more road wins to go to 9-1 in the SEC. There was no doubt now, this team was for real however I still could not see a championship. It was just not possible. There was no way the worst program in the SEC (record-wise in conference since 1992) that had their historic best player and top assistant get arrested by the FBI and had their top two players suspended for the season could win an SEC title. NO WAY. Auburn then lost their only home game of the season by one point to Texas A&M and the Tennessee Vols were gaining ground. There were also dates with big bad Kentucky and Bama on the horizon.
The Tigers won on the road again in Athens to set up a huge game against Kentucky. Yes Kentucky was down a bit but they are always very good (they would win the SEC tournament AGAIN this season) and Auburn almost never beats them. Auburn's greatest basketball team ever in 1999 lost twice to Kentucky. Kentucky just assumes wins over Auburn. They also matched up good against the Tigers since they were so tall. I sat down to finally watch a full Auburn basketball game for the first time all season. I had watched parts of games but still had not treated one like a football game. On top of all that Auburn had moved into the top 10 for the first time since 2000.
The Auburn Tigers defeated Kentucky soundly 76-66. The Tigers stood up to a huge Wildcat run in the second half where their height seemed to really be getting to Auburn and they took the lead. I, of course, was like here we go again... but the Tigers fought back outhustling Kentucky and hitting big shots. Coach Pearl would say: "Our conditioning, our toughness, our resilience, our grit. It's why we won the game...". It was so true. These guys were amazing. Auburn was definitely the smallest team in the top 10 but they just continued to overcome that game after game. There was a chemistry, a togetherness, a "oneness" between these guys that all great teams share. Considering everything they were up against, it was simply amazing.
Jared Harper led the team at point guard. He is undersized and can still take an ill-advised three but his improvement from last season to the team's leader on the court this season was simply phenomenal. Bryce Brown was simply amazing at shooting guard. He blossomed into one of the best shooters in the country and man he hit so many big shots during the season. Mustapha Heron, Auburn's first five star recruit ever and the only constant last season, also raised his game this season and helped the team in all aspects of the game. He scored, he rebounded, he defended, etc... He announced this week he is headed to the NBA and I wish him all the luck in the world. He did it the right way. He gave his heart and soul to the team and the program for two years and was one of the biggest reasons Auburn won a basketball conference championship.
Around these guys so many other players stepped up and played huge roles. There was Anfernee McLemore, Horace Spencer, Desean Murray and Malik Dunbar plus freshmen Davion Mitchell and Chuma Okeke. These guys bought in, accepted their roles and did the dirty work to help win these games. On top of that they each rose up and played huge roles in winning several games. When the team was behind and things looked bad, someone would step up, make a play and bring a spark. You just do not see teams like this very much. The big dog programs usually always win in the end, not a gutty bunch like this. Of course behind these guys was Coach Bruce Pearl and his assistants working their butts off and encouraging the team. It is certainly the greatest coaching job in Auburn basketball history in my opinion.
One of the things that Coach Pearl was doing came to light on a great SportsCenter spotlight on the team late in the season. Evidently a writer for CBSSports.com predicted that Auburn would go 4-14 in conference. I certainly cannot blame him, I would have predicted about the same thing. However Coach Pearl used it as a motivation tool for the team. He created a shirt with a big "4-14" on it and he wore it first before Auburn's huge upset of Tennessee in Knoxville and then the players took turns wearing it before each game. I am simply amazed that Bruce Pearl after a pretty long career where he made some mistakes and sure took some tough turns is able to stay so positive and dig in and work so hard to save this team and program. It is not just the coaching, it is the honest interviews with the media and rallying the fans especially the students.
Early in the season Pearl bought pizzas for students outside waiting to get in to a game. He and the team also went out after a big early season conference win at home to thank fans leaving the arena. The guy is not simply coasting into retirement (i.e. Cliff Ellis) but putting his heart and soul into this program. There is simply no other way to explain it. There is simply no way Auburn could "luck" their way into winning an SEC title in basketball. It takes talent, coaching and great play from all over the team over the long haul. For a team that had this much going against it, it takes even more from the coaches and the players.
If ANYONE thinks I am hitting the hyperbole meter a bit too hard, I would say that YOU do not know Auburn basketball. PLEASE read my posts in the timeline I lay out HERE. Auburn is the WORST program record-wise in the SEC since 1992. Before this season Auburn had only won 34 conference basketball games SINCE 2010. Before this season Auburn had only only three winning conference records in TWENTY FIVE YEARS. Bruce Pearl who we knew was a great coach then came in and had Auburn's first back-to-back twenty LOSS seasons. The Tigers then lost to an historically bad Missouri team in the first round of the SEC tournament last season. It sure looked like that as good a coach as Pearl was that NOBODY could save this program... till this magical season.
I paused in my season summary with the Kentucky win. It was such a big win but Auburn still had a long way to go to win a title and it got even longer just a few days later. The Tigers travelled to South Carolina where the Gamecocks put a complete beat down on them. On top of that, Anfernee McLemore went down with a gruesome leg injury. He was out for the season with a broken leg. I hate when coaches and the media overblow injuries but in this case it was not hot air. McLemore had turned into one of the team's leaders and was one of the only tall players in the playing rotation. He led the SEC in blocks (!!!) and was a key offensive and defensive player. You could tell this one hurt and bad.
And of course it had to happen before the biggest home game of the season... Bama was coming to Auburn and the Tigers simply had to win if they were going to have a chance to win the SEC. It had become real clear before the Kentucky game to everyone looking ahead that Auburn was probably not going to win any more road games. They had three left in South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas and even with things going so good those are very tough spots to win in. We were right too because Auburn did not win any of those games. The Tigers simply had to win their home games but after McLemore went down that task got more difficult.
It sure looked bad with the talented Crimson Tide coming to town. Bama underperformed much of the season but as they showed at times in the season and in the SEC tournament they have a ton of talent that can come alive. Also, Auburn not only had an SEC championship on the line but a season on the line. Bama can lie and alibi how great a season is without beating their main rival (like this season in football) but we know the truth. I will freely admit that no matter how good this basketball season was, it would not be near as good if we got swept by Bama. Auburn needed this win in the worst way... and things got EVEN WORSE at game time when it was announced Mustapha Heron had been hospitalized with a stomach virus. I had an event I had to attend that night and did not hear any of this till I listened to the end of the game on the way home.
I know I would have probably turned it off. Auburn without McLemore AND Heron trying to beat Bama???!!!??? I am sorry, I love the team and the coaches and they have done a great job all season but again NO WAY they are going to win without those two guys especially Heron. Well I was wrong again, this amazing team found a way and they not only beat Bama but beat them BAD 90-71. Jared Harper and Bryce Brown came up big AGAIN. I mean Brown was on FIRE!!! Chuma Okeke and Malik Dunbar had their best games of the season and everyone chipped in Coach Pearl put it best again: "It's special beyond compare," Pearl said. "This team is trying to make history. We've got a long way to go. What we're seeing is rare. This combination of grit, determination, resiliency, family, it's all right here. Enjoy this, because it doesn't happen very often."
No it does not and the crazed students and fans in Auburn Arena enjoyed it to the fullest. My son is in college and was at this game along with the Kentucky game and the South Carolina game to end the season. I told him and his friends they were a part of history and like Coach Pearl said, something very rare. Auburn despite its poor basketball history has had some great seasons but they were mostly in the old Beard Eaves MAUSOLEUM. They were awesome but there was always a little something missing because of that awful facility. This season it was so incredible to see the students filling up the place and sitting in the right sections front and center like a real basketball school. It was never like that in the mausoleum. Auburn had built its best ever basketball facility in Auburn Arena but this was the first good team to play in it.
If you build it (and I mean the place AND THE TEAM)... THEY WILL COME... and they did!!! As a student you had to get there about four to six hours before the game to get in. For regular fans the games were hard sellouts and scalper ticket prices high. This Auburn basketball team not only brought the program back from the brink but energized a fan base on campus and off that were thirsty for just a good team to come along. Some of my favorite scenes from this season was seeing the huge Auburn crowd go absolutely berserk at the end of the Kentucky, Bama and South Carolina games especially Bama. Horace Spencer's late put-back slam brought the house down including Charles Barkley himself going nuts in the stands.
The team found a way to beat Bama and after back-to-back losses on the road they just had to get one more at home against South Carolina to bring home one of the biggest and well earned championships in Auburn's long and storied sports history. MVP Bryce Brown pulled out of a late season slump to put up almost 30 points and help bring Auburn into the promise land beating the Gamecocks 79-70. It got tight at the end but the Tigers prevailed and the confetti fell from the rafters. The team gave everything they had left in the tank to finish this season's long journey to that sacred place.
I will not soon forget sitting in my car at the old Butler High School in Huntsville before my daughter's soccer game listening to this one end. I had a tear in my eye as this Auburn basketball team did what I thought could not be done this season. These Tigers would finally run out of gas and lose badly to Bama in the SEC tournament and then to Clemson in the NCAA tournament but not before they would get one more big win defeating the College of Charleston in the first round of the NCAA tournament with Jared Harper and Bryce Brown hitting big shots one more time to put Auburn over the top.
I will admit, I got pretty upset after those losses but after taking some time and then writing this post I came to the realization that for this one special season it did not matter. Look at the last decade of Auburn basketball and how absolutely horrible it has been. Look at what happened to start this season. What these guys did... I will say it one more time, it is just AMAZING. These basketball Tigers finished 26-8 overall, 13-5 in conference and regular season champs. They beat Tennessee, the other best team in the conference, on the road. They beat Kentucky. They beat Bama. They were ranked in the top ten during the season and took Auburn back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in fifteen years.
"The guys wanted to make history," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "Winning a championship at Auburn means a lot." "It's unreal. It's so unbelievable right now," said Bryce Brown, who became the 36th Auburn player to reach the 1,000-point mark. "I've got to thank the Lord for everything he's done for me. Knowing where we came from and where we are now, it just feels unreal. I'm so thankful, I'm so blessed." These guys did make history and this championship means a whole lot. I think to end this post I will just echo what Bryce said, all of us who witnessed this season also are so thankful and so blessed...
WAR EAGLE.
