Tag: K.D. Johnson

Auburn basketball coasts by Israel U-20 team in first exhibition

The Tigers had no trouble with their foreign tour opponents.

The Auburn men’s basketball team will certainly still be enjoying their vacation after breezing through its first challenge overseas.

The Tigers defeated the Israeli U-20 national team 117-56 on Tuesday in the first of three exhibition matches the team plans to play in Israel. The win was Auburn’s third consecutive 100-point game in preseason foreign tours.

Auburn never stopped rolling the entire game, and as such, got off to a very hot start. The Tigers ended the first quarter up 21-8 on the Israeli U-20 team, with incoming freshman [autotag]Yohan Traore[/autotag] leading the scoring with five points — he also netted three rebounds in the first quarter.

[autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s squad extended their lead to 33 by the time the second half came to an end, going up 55-22. Traore shot 50 percent from the field by halftime’s end and had eight points and five rebounds to top the team’s scoring. Transfer [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] put in some work as well, netting six points, four rebounds and a block for his new team at the half.

The lead grew to 40 points by the end of the third, with the Tigers up 80-40. It was [autotag]Chance Westry[/autotag] that would briefly take over the scoring title from Traore in the game, as he had 11 points, three assists and a block by the time the third quarter came to an end. Westry was one of three players with 10 points or more for Auburn at the end of the third, joining [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag]. Cardwell in particular had a staggering 14 rebounds up to that point.

Auburn really opened up in the fourth quarter to take it away, winning by the 117-56 score by a deficit of 61 points. Traore wouldn’t be outdone, scoring 11 more points in the final frame. Broome also showed out, ending the game with 17 points and 9 rebounds.

Auburn is set to play the Israeli All-Star Select Squad on Sunday and then the regular Israeli National Team the following day.

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How to watch Auburn basketball in Israel

Here is everything you need to know about Auburn’s trip to Israel.

Auburn fans will be getting an early glimpse of the Tigers next week. The Tigers are traveling to Israel for three games as part of the Birthright of College Basketball tour.

The trip will be the first look at a roster that has undergone massive turnover. Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler are off to the NBA. [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] and his staff reloaded in the front court with [autotag]Yohan Traore[/autotag] and [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag].

[autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Zep Jasper[/autotag], and [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag] are all back in the backcourt but could be filling new roles and some additions will add some important depth.

The Tigers will have a talented but new roster as they seek to defend their regular-season SEC title and the tour is a great chance for them to start to gel on the court. Here is everything you need to know about the games.

Auburn will take trip to Seattle to return home-and-home with Washington in 2022

Auburn will face Washington in 2022 as part of the backend of a home-and-home series.

On Friday, Jon Rothstein of CollegeHoopsToday reported that Auburn will make the trek to Seattle to return the back end of a home-and-home with Washington. The last time the two met was in 2018 when the Tigers hosted the Huskies. Auburn won decisively by a score of 88-66. Last season, the Huskies finished the season with a 17-15 record and finished 5th in the Pac-12.

Along with the trip to Seattle, Bruce Pearl’s squad will also travel to Galen Center in Los Angeles to take on the USC Trojans. Both Washington and USC will be tall tasks for the Tigers early on in the season. Auburn is set to return several of its’ key contributors in [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Zep Jasper[/autotag], [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag], and [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag]. It will likely take some time early on in the season to gel together, especially with both [autotag]Walker Kessler[/autotag] and [autotag]Jabari Smith[/autotag] declaring for the NBA Draft.

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

There are also several other teams that the Tigers will face as part of a home-and-home series such as St. Louis (home), South Florida (home), and Appalachian State (away). It is also worth noting that the Tigers will compete in the 2022 Cancun Challenge as well. With Auburn set to be good once again in the SEC, it will certainly face some of the more premier teams in all of college basketball prior to that.

Players that Auburn should target in the transfer portal

Taking a look at some of the players in the transfer portal that the Tigers should target.

The Auburn coaching staff has certainly seen success through the transfer portal. Last season, Auburn landed four transfers. College of Charleston transfer [autotag]Zep Jasper[/autotag], Georgia transfer [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag], Eastern Kentucky transfer [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag], and North Carolina transfer [autotag]Walker Kessler[/autotag] all joined the Tigers program last offseason. Each of them played large roles in the Tigers’ success this past season.

Three of the four will likely be back next season as well. Head coach Bruce Pearl has proven that he can send players to the league. Over the years, players like Isaac Okoro, Sharife Cooper, and Chuma Okeke have all seen their own share of success in the NBA up to this point. Two players that are suited to join them after the upcoming NBA draft are Walker Kessler and [autotag]Jabari Smith[/autotag]. It just goes to show that Pearl has accomplished a lot since he joined Auburn.

The coaching staff has shown early interest in several elite players in the transfer portal. Today, we will take a look at some of the players that they should target that are still available in the portal.

Where Auburn ranks in USA TODAY’S way-too-early preseason top 25

It is never too early for a ranking.

The 2021-22 college basketball season came to a close last night with the Kansas Jayhawks winning the national championship over the North Carolina Tarheels.

With the close of that season, it is not time to focus on the 2022-23 season, and Scott Gleeson of USA TODAY released his way-too-early men’s preseason top 25 and Auburn made the cut.

He has the Tigers as his No. 21 team in his rankings. He cited the return of [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag] for why he included Auburn.

The Tigers will lose their best player in All-American Jabari Smith, but guards K.D. Johnson and Wendell Green Jr. return in the backcourt from a team that tailed off early but was in line for a No. 1 seed in February.

Auburn finished the season 28-6 and despite winning the SEC regular-season championship lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Miami.

In addition to those two, Auburn will return starters [autotag]Zep Jasper[/autotag] and [autotag]Allen Flannigan[/autotag]. [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] is also expected to slide back into the starting lineup with the departures of Smith and [autotag]Walker Kessler[/autotag].

While Auburn has plenty of returning production, Bruce Pearl and the staff are working hard to add more talent. They have a commitment from five-star center Yohan  Traore, the second highest-rated commit in program history, and signed four-star wing Chance Westry and three-star point guard Tre Donaldson.

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Key Players in Auburn’s Unprecedented Success

Reviewing the top player’s performances for Auburn during their run to the regular-season crown.

The Auburn basketball team has had several good years of hoops over the years.

The 2018-19 team made a run to the final four. The following year the Tigers made an appearance in the elite eight. It is pretty remarkable to see how much head coach Bruce Pearl has changed the atmosphere in hoops over the years on the Plains.

His success comes with the ability to recruit some of the best players in the country. By doing so, he has made the Auburn basketball program more notable as of late.

This season, the Tigers will be the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament and could potentially carry that seeding over to the NCAA Tournament if their success continues. Several players have been instrumental to the Tigers’ success this season, and I find it necessary to point out some of the key contributors for the Tigers this season.

A group of highly-regarded transfers, role players, and very successful freshmen highlight the success of the Tigers in the 2022 season.

Instant Analysis: Auburn beats Mississippi Stats 81-68 in overtime

Auburn has clinched a SEC regular-season championship.

Auburn will get to hang a banner.

The Tigers watched as their 19-point first half lead evaporated in the second half but K.D. Johnson took over in overtime to defeat Mississippi State 81-68 on Wednesday night.

With the win Auburn improved to 26-4 overall and 14-3 in SEC play. Even more importantly, the win clinched a share of the regular-season title. It is just the fourth time Auburn has won the regular-season title and second time in the past five seasons.

Here are our immediate takeaways from the win.

No. 1 Auburn survived against Georgia, and preserved men’s college basketball history

Auburn’s path to a top seed stays alive.

Dream seasons have an abundance of whimsy, magic, clutch play, and the unthinkable. Try as you might not; you never forget them or the inherent joy they brought you. Every victory, every big play is embedded in your mind forever. Then there’s the season Bruce Pearl’s Auburn (-16) men have had. A No. 1 overall ranking. Four wins over top-25 teams, including the perennial NBA-lite powerhouse, Kentucky. An undefeated (thus far) slate through what seems like a tougher gauntlet of an SEC than usual.

An unprecedented 19-game winning streak, by far the longest in the country.

And, of course, a clear favorite for a top seed — a No. 1 seed, to be precise — in next month’s NCAA tournament.

On Saturday afternoon, that dream (at least for a top seed) almost came to a screeching halt against, of all teams, last-place Georgia. Dreams often have a way of breaking your heart and ripping it out of your chest, don’t they?

With starting point guard and two-way senior glue guy Zep Jasper out due to COVID-19 protocols, Auburn found itself unexpectedly tested against the rival Bulldogs. Georgia may have shot poorly overall (just 40.7 percent), but shooting 20-of-29 from the stripe (thanks to overzealous defense on the part of the Tigers) meant a massive scrappy underdog stayed in the game.

Whatever plans Auburn had for the dance weren’t in jeopardy with one single loss after their wondrous season. But those aspirations for a No. 1 seed and, perhaps, ideally, an easier draw during March Madness? You better bet Pearl’s crew was nervously sweating every last drop out on the road against a rival.

What didn’t help Auburn’s undisciplined defense was a combined generous 13-of-35 shooting from two of the SEC’s best guards this year — K.D. Johnson and Wendell Green Jr. — that let Georgia fight their way back from a 15-point second-half deficit. In what is customary of these sorts of affairs that are supposed to be wire-to-wire blowouts, every gasp of air Auburn surrendered to Georgia, the choking Bulldogs took and filled their lungs with it to capacity like oxygen.

A powerhouse was now ripe for an upset. Somehow, someway, we had a tie 72-72 game in the final moments.

Enter Green Jr. and the power of redemption.

On a day where his shot would simply not fall, Green Jr. rescued the Tigers anyway. And in a game that will now receive a classic label, he took a momentary lapse in Georgia’s comeback attempt, grasped it tightly, and refused to let go.

The nail-biter win also fell right in line with Auburn men’s lore. It’s the first time the Tigers have started 22-1, tied with the 1998-1999 squad for the best start in program history. That team is the last and only Auburn men’s team ever to capture a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Pearl’s crew is quite obviously looking to add to that oh-so-exclusive pantheon. A team with a consensus +900 odds to win the national title (second only to Gonzaga) deserves as much.

There’s still about a month to go before March explodes with its usual chaos. Auburn could not afford a setback this devastating or this soon. But they’re back on track, and still on a path toward history, and their dream.

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Georgia guard transfer K.D. Johnson commits to Auburn

Georgia guard transfer K.D. Johnson announced his commitment to Auburn on Wednesday afternoon.

Auburn has landed a transfer from a rival.

On Wednesday, Georgia guard transfer K.D. Johnson announced that he’s committed to play for the Tigers in the upcoming season.

Johnson is no stranger to Bruce Pearl and company as he was highly recruited by the Tigers in 2020 as a top-100 player in the class. He ended up committing to Tom Crean and the Bulldogs where, as a freshman last season, he averaged 13.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 38.7 percent from the three-point line.

 

How Georgia basketball’s 2020 recruiting class ranks nationally

Georgia basketball rises multiple spots in national college basketball 2020 recruiting rankings.

Following the expected news of Georgia basketball’s star freshman shooting guard Anthony Edwards leaving UGA after one year for the NBA Draft, junior forward Rayshaun Hammonds announced he will also be leaving in hopes of NBA glory.

The Dawgs’ third year head coach Tom Crean will need to replace the 32 points and 12.6 rebounds a game that Edwards and Hammonds produced last season.

Crean’s 2020 recruiting class isn’t quite what his 2019 class was, finishing 11th in all of college basketball (big thanks to Edwards), but it’s starting to attract some attention.

The Dawgs currently have one more spot open for their 2020-21 roster with seven players leaving and six players coming in.

The top man headlining Georgia’s 2020 recruiting class is point guard K.D. Johnson. Johnson is a 4-star recruit out of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia. He’s listed at 6-foot-1, 170 pounds and is 247Sports number 17 point guard in the country for the 2020 class.  Johnson broke the top-100 national recruits, recently rising 34 spots to the 93rd best player in the country. Check out some of Johnson’s highlights here.

Another big signing for the Bulldogs this offseason was power forward Josh Taylor.  Taylor, the 6-foot-8, 200 pound power forward out of Norcross, Georgia, is rated as the 24th best power forward in the 2020 class, and the 120th best overall player.

Jonathan Ned, Mikal Starks and Tyron McMillan round out the remaining signees for the 2020 class, along with graduate transfer Justin Kier from George Mason University.

Ned, Starks and McMillan are all coming to Athens from junior colleges and should be nice additions for the Dawgs.  Ned is listed as a 6-foot-9, 200 pound small forward, Starks is listed as a 6-foot-0, 180 pound point guard and McMillan is listed as a 6-foot-8, 225 pound power forward.

Starks and Ned both played at Eastern Florida State College where they excelled as teammates. The two signed their letter of intent together this past November.

Kier averaged 9.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists for his senior season at George Mason.  Kier should add some great playmaking ability and leadership to a very young Bulldog team.

The Dawgs 2020 recruiting class still has one spot open and is currently ranked 28th in the nation by 247Sports.  It will be tough losing as much talent as they are, but Crean is holding his own in the nation’s recruiting battle, acquiring some very solid players.