Tag: Jaylin Williams

Recap: Yale upsets Auburn, season ends in Spokane

Auburn’s magical season concludes with a first-round upset loss to Yale.

The latest upset of March Madness involves the SEC Tournament champions.

No. 4 seed Auburn faced several instances of adversity in Friday’s round of 32 contest with No. 13 seed Yale, with the final blow taking place over the final 2:10 of regulation. Yale’s John Poulakidas nailed a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 73-72 advantage. Unfortunately for the Tigers, it was a lead that Yale managed to hold. The Bulldogs completed the upset of Auburn on Friday by taking down the Tigers, 77-74 on Friday at Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington.

A three-point jumper by [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] pushed Auburn ahead, 68-58, with 7:27 remaining in the contest. From that moment, Yale took control of the game by chipping away and ultimately stealing the win. Bez Mbeng answered Jones’ three-pointer with one of his own with 7:12 to go in the game. The long-range bucket kicked off a 17-9 run by the Bulldogs to secure the victory.

Auburn outshot Yale, 51% to 46%, and took advantage of Bulldog turnovers by turning them into 15 points. However, scoring nine points over the final eight minutes, plus Yale’s ability to score 19 points in fastbreak situations, led to a Yale win. Auburn also had zero answers for Yale guard John Poulakidas, who scored 28 points in Yale’s win. He connected on 10-15 shots, which includes an astonishing 6-9 mark from three-point territory.

Auburn had an eventful first half that required adjustment. At the 16:59 mark in the half, Auburn guard [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] was ejected after throwing an elbow at Yale’s August Mahoney. The action was deemed a flagrant 2 foul and forced Baker-Mazara’s game to be cut short just three minutes into the game. Following the ejection, the Bulldogs went on a 12-4 run over the ensuing three minutes to take an 18-16 lead with 13:30 to go in the half.

[autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] turned a Yale turnover into points with a dunk at the 12:29 mark in the first half to put Auburn back in front, 20-18, a lead that the Tigers would not relinquish for the remainder of the half. The Bulldogs trimmed the lead to one point with 12 minutes remaining, but the Tigers would build a seven-point cushion to take into halftime.

Yale began the second half strong by erasing Auburn’s 41-34 halftime lead on a 10-2 run over the first five minutes of the half. The Tigers answered by piecing together a 9-0 run to take a 57-48 lead with 11:10 remaining in the half. The Tigers would lead by as many as 10 points in the second half before the Bulldogs trimmed, and ultimately, stole the lead in the final two minutes.

[autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] was the Tigers’ top producer, scoring 24 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Denver Jones scored 17 while Jaylin Williams dropped 13. [autotag]Tre Donaldson[/autotag] recorded six rebounds in the loss.

Yale will move on to face No. 5 seed San Diego State on Sunday in the round of 32. The Aztecs survived a scare of their own Friday by beating No. 12 seed UAB, 69-65. Auburn’s season ends with a 24-8 record.

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How high is the ceiling for Auburn in the NCAA Tournament?

Auburn’s run in the NCAA Tournament is set to start on Friday, so here is a dive into what the ceiling looks like for Bruce Pearl’s squad.

The round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament is set to start in just a matter of hours, marking the beginning of the journey for 64 teams toward a national title. For the Auburn Tigers, their goal is the same as it always has been — cutting down the nets at the end of it all.

The Tigers are coming into the first round fresh off of winning the SEC Championship in Nashville over the weekend. The last time they did this, they made a historic run to the Final Four in 2019.

So, can they this team repeat that history to make a run toward Phoenix this year? [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] and his squad certainly can do so.

Auburn ranks No. 13 in scoring offense nationally with 83.4 PPG. That point total is typically led by the dynamic duo in the frontcourt of [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag]. That duo is just as lethal on the defensive side of the ball, as the Tigers hold their opponents to just 68.0 points PPG.

Auburn is set to play the Yale Bulldogs in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and should it win, plays either San Diego State or UAB. Looking ahead, the potential path to Phoenix has the Tigers facing up against the defending national champions in UConn. Through many eyes, that is said to be what would be Auburn’s toughest matchup.

The Tigers can make it to the Final Four and even the National Championship. Now, only time will tell if the boys from the Plains can do just that.

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Auburn claims No. 4 seed in East Region

Despite claiming an SEC Championship, the Auburn Tigers are a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Despite claiming an SEC Championship, the Auburn Tigers are the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s team is joined by UConn (No. 1), Iowa State (No. 2), and Illinois (No. 3) as the top seeds in the East Region.

As for their first-round game, the Tigers will go up against Ivy League Champion Yale. The Bulldogs went 22-9 this season and defeated Brown in the Ivy League Championship Game about an hour before Auburn claimed an SEC Title.

James Jones’s squad is led by forward Danny Wolfs and Matt Knowling. The duo combined for about 30 points per contest this season, while the latter hit the game-winning shot in the Ivy League Championship to send his team dancing.

The two should match up decently with Auburn’s front[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]court duo of [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylin Williams.[/autotag]

Auburn’s quest for its first national championship will begin Friday. The time of the game will be announced sometime in the coming week.

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Recap: Auburn gets revenge, cuts down the nets in Nashville

The Auburn Tigers are your 2023-2024 SEC Tournament Champions. 

The Auburn Tigers are your 2023-2024 SEC Tournament Champions.

Bruce Pearl challenged his team to win nine games in a row before its SEC Tournament opener on Friday and [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and company have responded by notching the first three.

While it wasn’t quite Neville Arena, Sunday’s championship against Florida felt like a home game in “Auburn North”.

The Auburn family brought the energy inside Bridgestone Arena from the get-go, although the building did calm down significantly following a gruesome leg injury suffered by Florida center Micah Handlogten.

Handlogten was ultimately stretchered off, and the energy returned to the tune of Auburn defensively disrupting a potent Gators offense en route to a 38-30 halftime lead.

Mark Clayton Jr. and the rest of the Gator offense managed to cut the Auburn lead to a single point quickly into the second half, getting the score to 45-44 within the first four minutes. Guard [autotag]Trae Donaldson[/autotag] quickly responded by knocking down a “parking lot” 3-point shot then stealing a Clayton Jr. pass on the other end that turned into a [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] transition dunk.

From that moment on it was all Auburn. The Tigers outscored Florida 41-27 from that point on. The Championship was in hand by the under 4:00 timeout.

While Donaldson had a massive impact off the bench, the star of the afternoon was none other than forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], who picked up his second double-double of the SEC Tournament.

The Junior led all scorers in the game with 19 points while also providing 3 blocks on the defensive end. Forwards [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Chris Moore[/autotag], [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag], and [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag] also played fantastic minutes against a tall Florida front court.

Auburn’s 86-67 win continues a trend of dominance we’ve seen from Auburn this season. Every Tigers win has come by double-digits other than one.

The Tigers have every chance to run the table again in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll see who they’ll face in a few short hours.

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Recap: Auburn starts slow but takes care of business to advance to SEC Championship

Bruce Pearl’s team will have a chance to win the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2019 on Sunday against either Florida or Texas A&M.

Early afternoon starts haven’t been kind to the Auburn Tigers this season. That trend continued on Saturday in Nashville.

[autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s team played some of the worst basketball it had over the past month in the first five minutes of the SEC Semifinal against Mississippi State. The good news for the Tigers? They outscored Chris Jan’s bulldogs 69-54 over the final 35 minutes of a 73-66 win.

Mississippi State’s defense was able to frustrate Auburn’s high-ranked offense for most of the afternoon, but the Tigers did just enough to get by. While star [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] wasn’t his usual dominant self after dealing with foul trouble in the first half, he still managed 10 points on the afternoon.

Front-court mate [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] took over the “do-it-all” forward role with Broome playing only 24 minutes. The winningest player in Auburn history ended his afternoon with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.

Guards [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] continued their hot stretch of play, carrying things on the offensive end at times Saturday with timely jump shots and drives to the rim.

The duo finished their afternoon with 27 combined points on an efficient 59/18 from the field. Baker-Mazara finished with a team-high 16.

As for Mississippi State, the Bulldogs ran off the backs of stars Josh Hubbard and Tolu Smith once again. The former struggled for most of the afternoon before getting hot in the middle of the second half, pushing the margin to as close as one possession at points.

The big man Smith was the only player to secure a double-double in the game. He finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds on a 3/8 shooting day.

Auburn showed it can win a gritty, close, tournament game on a nuetral floor with this showing. The Tigers are becoming more and more likely to make a deep run into March.

Bruce Pearl’s team will have a chance to win the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2019 on Sunday against either Florida or Texas A&M.

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Recap: Auburn emphatically punches ticket into SEC Tournament Semis

If you had any doubts about Auburn’s ability to make a deep run into March, the Tigers proved that pessimism was unwarranted on Friday afternoon in Nashville.

If you had any doubts about Auburn’s ability to make a deep run into March, the Tigers proved that pessimism was unwarranted on Friday afternoon in Nashville.

[autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s Tigers absolutely bullied the South Carolina Gamecocks for 40 minutes in an 86-55 SEC Tournament Quarterfinal win. If not for a few early offensive rebounds by B.J. Mack and the other Gamecock forwards this thing would have never been close.

Auburn’s No. 7 ranked KenPom defense showed up massively, holding South Carolina to a measly 55 points in the game. The aforementioned Mack along with other star Meechie Johnson combined for just 17 points, which is nearly 11 points lower than their per game average this season.

On the offensive end, things didn’t change much from what we saw in the regular season. The Tigers ran their sets through star forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], relying heavily on the junior’s presence to not only score but create open looks for the guards.

Auburn’s best player finished his afternoon with a game-high 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. Frontcourt mate [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] played a solid game as well, but it was the backcourt quartet of [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag], [autotag]Aden Holloway[/autotag], [autotag]Trae Donaldson[/autotag] and [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] that stood out on Broadway.

Baker-Mazara was his normal “stat-stuffing” self with 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, while Jones, Donaldson and Holloway shot an extremely efficient 50% from the field for 21 combined points.

Senior [autotag]K.D Johnson[/autotag] was his usual, “sparkplug”, self off the bench as well, adding 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.

If Bruce Pearl can get that kind of production and efficiency from his guards during the remainder of the postseason, the sky is truly the limit for Auburn in March.

Next up for the Tigers is a matchup right back in Bridgestone Arena against Mississippi State at 12:00 PM Central with a trip to the SEC Championship on the line.

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Auburn has 84% chance to beat South Carolina on Friday

ESPN predicts that Auburn will end South Carolina’s dreams of winning an SEC Tournament championship on Friday.

It is day three of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, and we finally get a chance to watch Auburn begin its journey toward a tournament championship.

First on the menu for the Tigers is a rematch with No. 5-seed South Carolina, who defeated Arkansas on Thursday to advance to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. The game will be a rematch of a game played on Valentine’s Day in Neville Arena that Auburn won, 101-61. [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] each crossed the 20-point mark while [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] led the team in rebounds with five.

Will South Carolina get the revenge that they desperately crave? ESPN is not giving them much of a chance.

According to the latest data from its’ matchup predictor, ESPN is forecasting an 84% chance of an Auburn victory, which would set the Tigers up a date with either No. 1-seed Tennessee or No. 9-seed Mississippi State on Saturday at noon CT.

The Tigers hold an advantage in every major category, with the widest margin being points scored per game. Auburn averages 83.5 points per game while the Gamecocks score 72.6. Auburn’s defense was too much for South Carolina to handle in the first meeting between these two squads, as they outshot the Gamecocks, 61% to 35%, from the field.

It did not help matters that three players — Collin Murray-Boyles, BJ Mack, and Meechie Johnson — scored 90% of South Carolina’s points. As usual, Auburn spread wealth in the game as eight players scored at least six points, with three reaching double-figures.

The Tigers and Gamecocks square off at 2:30 p.m. CT at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Click here to get the full preview of Friday’s game.

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Three Tigers receive All-SEC Team honors

Auburn Forwards Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams along with freshman Aden Holloway receive All-SEC honors.

Three Auburn Tigers earned spots on the SEC men’s basketball all-conference teams on Monday. Forwards [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] along with freshman [autotag]Aden Holloway[/autotag] received honors from the league.

Broome, who was in the running for SEC Player of the Year, earned a spot on the All-SEC First Team as well as the All-SEC Defensive Team after a spectacular junior season in which he averaged 16.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game.

Broome improved in all three statistical categories during his second season on the Plains. His 2.1 dimes per contest was a career-high.

Despite playing nearly 2 fewer minutes per fixture this season, Auburn’s leader produced nearly identical defensive statistics of 2.3 blocks and 0.9 steals as he did a year ago. Most notably, Broome was able to stay out of foul trouble by cutting his 3 fouls per game down to 2.4

Front-court mate Jaylin Williams found himself on the All-SEC Second Team after assembling the best season of his career in 2023-2024. The senior put up career-highs in points per game (12.9), field goal percentage (57.7%), and 3-point percentage (39.7).

The longest-tenured Tiger also enjoyed his best free throw percentage (82.5) since his freshmen season when he only appeared in 14 games.

Five-star freshmen Aden Holloway also received honors from the league as he was named to the All-SEC Freshmen Team after an up-and-down first season in front of the Jungle.

After scoring 18 points in the first game of the year against Baylor, Holloway struggled to find his stroke from beyond the 3-point arc but still managed to command [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s offense well.

The 19-year-old from Charlotte finished the season averaging nearly 3 assists per game while committing less than a turnover per outing. Even with the shooting struggles, Holloway managed to finish fifth on the team with 7.8 points per game.

Auburn’s 3 selections to the All-SEC team are tied with Florida, Mississippi State, Tennessee and South Carolina for the second most selections in the conference.

Only Kentucky (4), had more players selected to All-SEC Teams.

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Photos: Auburn gets revenge on Mississippi State

Check out the best images from Auburn’s 78-63 win over Mississippi State!

Revenge is sweet, just ask the Auburn Tigers.

The No. 11 Tigers avenged a loss to Mississippi State on Saturday by taking down the Bulldogs, 78-63 on Saturday in Neville Arena in Auburn. [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] led the team with 17 points and six rebounds. [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag], [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag], and [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] joined Broome by reaching double-figures in points.

With the win, Auburn kicks off the month of March in style with a key win that will provide needed momentum heading into the final week of the regular season.

Here are the best images from Auburn’s win over Mississippi State on Saturday.

Social media reacts to Auburn’s win over Mississippi State

Auburn fans are celebrating the Tigers’ return to the win column!

The No. 11 Auburn Tigers returned to the win column on Saturday by knocking off Mississippi State at home, 78-63, on Saturday in Neville Arena.

Auburn was able to avenge a January loss to the Bulldogs by shooting 50% from the field and 47% from three-point territory. That proved to be important as Mississippi State managed to out-rebound Auburn and score two more points in the paint than the Tigers.

Four players reached double-digits in points, led by [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag]’s 17-point showing. [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] added 15 points while [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] scored 10 each.

Auburn fans are celebrating their team’s win over Mississippi State. Here are the best social media reactions from Auburn fans following Saturday’s game with Mississippi State.