It was the dunk heard around the world, well maybe not but it sure made waves on the Plains. Jabari Smith emphatically put Jacksonville State to bed with his thunderous dunk after missing a three-point shot. At that point in the game, it was well over but the Consensus All-American made sure to put the exclamation point on this game.
After coming out flat against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament and through the first 16 minutes of this game against the Gamecocks, Auburn poured it on over the final 23:47. Smith scored a game-high 20 points with 14 rebounds. Walker Kessler came close to another triple-double, all he lacked was one more block. K.D. Johnson made up for his 0-14 night against the Aggies.
This felt more like the team that won 19-straight games during the season. It was fun in the second half and the team fed off the energy of the crowd.
JABARI. SMITH. 😤😤😤
🎥 @MarchMadnessMBB #WarEagle x #MarchMadness
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 18, 2022
According to USA TODAY Sports college basketball analyst Scott Gleeson, the Tigers were big winners on Friday.
What Scott Gleeson Says…
The No. 2-seeded Tigers (28-5) watched their SEC counterpart Kentucky lose to a No. 15 seed Thursday, but made sure to pull away from Jacksonville State late in the first half. Jabari Smith’s 20 points and 14 rebounds (including this tenacious dunk) helped lift the Tigers to an 80-61 victory and a spot in the second round of the Midwest Region.
The same could not be said for the LSU Tigers, who fell to the Iowa State Cyclones in round one after firing head coach Will Wade. Of the six SEC teams that were selected for the NCAA Tournament, three are left standing.
The No. 6-seeded Tigers played uninspired before a late rally at the end in a 59-54 loss to Iowa State in the first round of the Midwest Region. The outcome’s understandable considering coach Will Wide was fired shortly before the NCAA Tournament. This game felt like the Cyclones were the favored team throughout the night, with LSU shooting 21% from 3-point land and committing 19 turnovers with interim head coach Kevin Nickelberry trying to get this group to reestablish its identity without Wade.
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