Tag: Tigers of the game

Tigers of the Game: Welcome to the Chad Baker-Mazara show

No. 16 Auburn sent LSU home with its first SEC loss on Saturday due to a strong performance by Chad Baker-Mazara and the Auburn bench.

The No. 16 Auburn Tigers recorded its 9th straight win on Saturday by knocking off fellow SEC unbeaten LSU, 93-78.

Auburn led by as many as 28 points in the second half before LSU stormed back to trim the lead to eight points with 2:12 remaining in the game. The home-standing Tigers were able to pull away over the final two minutes to secure the 15-point victory.

There were very few categories that Auburn dominated on Saturday, but one of those was bench play. Auburn’s bench outscored LSU’s 49-37 on Saturday, with Chad Baker-Mazara leading the charge.

Four players reached double-figures in Auburn’s win, with two of those coming off the bench. Baker-Mazara led the team in points with 19, which is a season-high for the transfer from Northwest Florida State College.

Auburn Wire writers, as well as Auburn fans, shared their take on which players made the biggest impact in Auburn’s victory over LSU, and everyone agreed that bench players made a huge difference.

Here’s a look at which players earned “Tiger of the Game” votes due to their performance against LSU.

Tigers of the Game: Auburn makes history in Fayetteville

Many had a role in what turned out to be a historical day at Bud Walton Arena.

It is hard to slow down a team on a mission.

Auburn entered the conference portion of its schedule in good spirits after packing a six-game win streak with them for their trip to Arkansas. Those wins had value, as the Tigers won each of those games by a margin of 24 points.

The trend continued on Saturday, as they were able to extend their positive streak to seven games. However, Saturday’s victory is the most impressive of the bunch.

Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara succeeded on a free throw attempt which allowed his team to tie Arkansas at 27-27 with 3:52 remaining in the first half. Baker-Mazara’s free throw shifted momentum Auburn’s way, as they would go on to build a seven-point halftime lead before boat-racing Arkansas in the second half to exit Bud Walton Arena with an 83-51 victory to open SEC play.

The win was historic not only for Auburn, but for Arkansas as well. Auburn’s 32-point victory over the Razorbacks is the worst defeat in the history of Bud Walton Arena, which opened in 1993.

“That history does matter,” Auburn head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] said after the game. “Doing it at a place like this or if you could do it at Rupp (Kentucky) or if you could do it at Tennessee, it does mean more because those are some of the toughest places in the SEC to play.”

As has been the case in many of Auburn’s wins during its current win streak, the Tigers won the game by playing miles ahead in the box score. The Tigers dominated Arkansas in many areas of the game such as field goal percentage (49% to 31%), free-throw percentage (73% to 53%), rebounds (46-to-32), and bench points (46-9).

There is no doubt that Auburn, as a team, earned this victory and will use it to build momentum for the remainder of the SEC schedule. However, there were many individual performances that should not go unnoticed.

Here is a look at the Tigers of the Game for Auburn’s win over Arkansas.

Tigers of the Game: Williams, Johnson join elite club

Auburn’s monster win over Alabama State is capped off with a pair of Tigers reaching incredible milestones.

Friday night was special inside Neville Arena.

Not only did Auburn knock off in-state foe Alabama State, 82-62, to earn its fourth consecutive victory, but two of the most beloved members of the roster reached incredible milestones in the process.

In Friday’s win, senior guard [autotag]KD Johnson[/autotag] and senior forward [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] each eclipsed 1,000 points scored in their college careers. Williams reached the mark in five seasons with the Tigers while Johnson is in his fourth season, his second at Auburn.

Williams’ 20-point performance, as well as Johnson’s 13-point effort, were impressive in the eyes of head coach Bruce Pearl.

“Congratulations to Jaylin Williams. What a great game he had on both ends of the floor. He has been tremendously consistent over the last couple weeks. It was also great to see K.D. – that ball going in for him. I thought K.D. brought great energy into his rotation at the start of the first half where it really kind of ignited our defense.”

Following the game, Auburn Wire writers, as well as Auburn fans, shared their takes on who made the biggest impact in Auburn’s win over Alabama State. Here is a look at which players were voted “Tigers of the Game.”

Tigers of the Game: Dylan Cardwell is the ‘King of the Jungle’

Neville Arena was rocking on Sunday, and Dylan Cardwell may have had the best time.

That was fun.

The Auburn Tigers hosted USC on Sunday in the most important game of the season to date. USC was expected to provide Auburn with a challenge with their impressive backcourt consisting of Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier. Ellis showed up by dropping 22 points, but the rest of the team could not compete with the host Tigers, falling 91-75 at Neville Arena.

Auburn went on to shoot 48% from the field and scored 19 points off of 15 USC turnovers.

Auburn also had five players reach double-figures in the contest, but no one had as much fun on the floor as senior center Dylan Cardwell. Cardwell supplied several highlight-worthy plays, including this dunk over Bronny James.

Which other players stood out in Auburn’s massive win over USC on Sunday? Here’s a look at which players impressed Auburn Wire writers, as well as Auburn fans.

Tigers of the Game: Auburn’s depth is crucial in victory over UNC Asheville

Auburn’s bench was responsible for 51 of Auburn’s 87 points in Wednesday’s victory in Huntsville.

After earning a 28-point win over Indiana last Saturday, Auburn entered Wednesday’s neutral site game with Big South Conference favorite UNC Asheville in hopes of avoiding a dreaded letdown game before Sunday’s showdown with USC at Neville Arena.

Auburn cast those worries aside, as they cruised to an 87-62 win over Asheville at the Rocket City Classic at Huntsville’s Von Braun Center.

The Bulldogs stayed within 10 points of Auburn through the game’s first 16 minutes, but a [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag] bucket with 4:06 remaining in the first half pushed the Tigers ahead, 35-24.

From there, Auburn’s lead would not dip below double-digits for the remainder of the contest. The Tigers would lead by as many as 31 points in the second half before settling for the 25-point victory.

Auburn shot 53% from the field in the win, but the use of their bench is the key takeaway from the game. Ten non-starters combined to score 51 of Auburn’s 87 points in the win.

Auburn’s Denver Jones was asked about the team’s depth following the game, to which he responded “I feel like that’s going to be our biggest weapon this year.”

Who were some of the key performers from Wednesday’s triumph? Here’s a look at the Tigers of the Game from the UNC Asheville win, as voted on by Auburn Wire writers and Auburn fans.

Tigers of the Game: Six players reach double-digits in blowout win over Indiana

Auburn flat out dominated Indiana on Saturday at State Farm Arena, and several players contributed to the blow out victory.

Auburn responded in a huge way on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.

After dropping a disappointing game to Appalachian State last Sunday in Boone, North Carolina, the Tigers regrouped and checked back into the win column by blowing out blue blood Indiana, 104-76, as part of the Holiday Hoopsgiving event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

The difference in Auburn’s performance last Sunday at Appalachian State and Saturday’s performance against Indiana was night-and-day. The Tigers struggled at the free-throw line and shooting from three-point territory in the loss to the Mountaineers. Ironically, great three-point shooting and making the most of its free-throw opportunities is what played a role in Saturday’s blow out victory.

In a game such as the one that Auburn played against Indiana, it is hard to narrow down Auburn’s most productive players. Six players reached double-figures in points on Saturday, while four players were perfect from the line.

Here’s a look at the Tigers of the Game from the Indiana win, as voted on by Auburn Wire writers and Auburn fans.

Tigers of the Game: Broome reaches another double-double in loss

Auburn dropped a tough game to Appalachian State on the road, but Broome found ways to be productive.

The Auburn Tigers were tested in their first true road game of the season.

Head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] knew that playing at Appalachian State would provide a necessary challenge ahead of the SEC gauntlet. The game served as a wake-up call for the Tigers, as they shot just 47% from the stripe and 11% from beyond the arc in the 69-64 loss to the Mountaineers.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Auburn and has extended their streak of losses in true road games to five.

Despite the loss, there is plenty of positive to reflect on when it comes to individual performance.

Here’s a look at the Tigers of the Game from the Appalachian State loss, as voted on by Auburn Wire writers and Auburn fans.

Tigers of the Game: Take a bow, Mr. Broome

Auburn fans will remember the amazing performance put on by Johni Broome in Auburn’s 74-57 thrashing of Virginia Tech on Wednesday.

Fans and media members alike were a little nervous on Wednesday ahead of Auburn’s date with Virginia Tech. The last time that Auburn played a basketball game was Nov. 21, a span of eight days.

Would the Tigers play rusty in a game that would boost their NCAA Tournament resume? The short answer was no.

Auburn took control of Wednesday’s game early by jumping out to a 15-point lead at the 7:32 mark of the first half. Virginia Tech cut the lead to as many as seven points in the second half, but the Tigers went on several key runs that resulted in leads of over 20 points to keep the Hokies away. As a result, Auburn dismantled Virginia Tech, 74-57, in the inaugural ACC-SEC Challenge at Neville Arena.

The Tigers recorded a score on 55% of their possessions, making a bucket on 37-of-67 opportunities. Auburn also made the most of Virginia Tech’s turnovers, as they turned 21 blunders into 30 points.

Looking back at individual performances, Johni Broome had a night to remember while two players provided solid production off the bench.

Here’s a look at the Tigers of the Game from the Virginia Tech win, as voted on by Auburn Wire writers and Auburn fans.

Tigers of the Game: Johnson is Auburn’s Iron Bowl MVP

Auburn may not have won the game, but the efforts of Ja’varrius Johnson kept Auburn on the heels of Alabama throughout the game.

Another Iron Bowl, another classic.

This season’s game featured another close contest between Auburn and Alabama, which ended in heartbreak. The Tigers took the 21-20 lead with 6:36 to go in the 3rd quarter and held onto the lead until the final minute when Alabama‘s Jalen Milroe connected with receiver Isaiah Bond with 0:32 remaining to steal the 27-24 victory from the hands of the home-standing Tigers.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, there were several players that stood out in Auburn’s defeat. One of those was an unsuspecting receiver.

Ja’varrius Johnson played one of the biggest roles in Auburn’s performance by reeling in four catches for 76 yards and a touchdown while rushing for an additional score. Without his efforts, it is difficult to imagine how close Auburn would have stayed with Alabama throughout the challenging game.

Johnson is one of four players that made a difference in Auburn’s game against Alabama. Here is this week’s Tigers of the Game.

Tigers of the Game: It’s take your pick night at Neville Arena

Auburn cruised to a 30-point win over Alabama A&M on Tuesday night, and nearly everyone played a role.

Auburn entered Tuesday’s game as 33.5-point favorites over Alabama A&M, and after starting with a 12-0 with the game’s first 5:26, it appeared that line was a safe one.

Auburn continued the game by making the most of their possessions by scoring on 39 of their 68 opportunities while allowing Alabama A&M to score just 25 times out of 70 chances in the 84-54 win at Neville Arena.

Auburn rotated plenty of players onto the floor Tuesday. Out of Auburn’s 14 participants, 11 scored at least two points, and 13 recorded at least one rebound. Stats like that make this edition of Tigers of the Game a tough one. But, alas, we have made our decisions.

Let’s highlight several key performances from Tuesday’s win over Alabama A&M. Here is a look at the Tigers of the Game as voted on by Auburn Wire writers and Auburn fans.