This W is further proof that we have a great team this year. Good teams lose on the road when the other team comes out on fire and plays as flawless of a first half of basketball as Ole Miss did tonight. Ole Miss shot the lights out, played without a foul for 18 minutes and had no TOs until KD went nuts at the end of the 1st. I seriously doubt we face another team this year who plays a half against us that flawless. They scored 44 in the 1st after only scoring 51 the entire previous game. We took their absolute best shot and still managed to get to the half only down 6. In the 2nd, our defense was lights out. Held them to 9 points in the first 9 minutes and only 27 for the half to get the W. After we got into our biggest hole in the 1st half, we outscored them 50-27 the rest of the way. We have been in a lot of tough games during this 13 game winning streak and our guys keep answering the bell when the game is on the line. Great game overall on offense as we shot 50% from the field and 87% from the FT line. As @MattAU05 pointed out after the UF game, games like this are awesome for the team's development as they are put into a pressure situation with tons of adversity, but still get out of it with the W.
Monster bounce back game tonight for Walker after 2 rough games. He stayed out of foul trouble tonight and was absolutely dominant on both ends of the floor with an Auburn high 20 points (tied his career high from UNC) and a double double with rebounds. Came within shouting distance of another triple double with 7 blocks. Even added a team high 4 steals. The pick and roll between Walker and Wendell was money tonight.
Wendell with one of his best games of the year tonight from a pure PG standpoint. 7-1 assist to turnover ratio on the road in the SEC is the kind of performance that is going to make us extremely hard to beat. The fact he added 14 points and knocked down huge 3s when the game was hanging in the balance certainly helps too. So many of Walker and Wendell's highlights were a combination of both guys. Wendell had the assist on most of Walker's dunks. Walker's block turning into Wendell's transition three was a huge sequence for us..
KD was huge tonight. His overall stat line with 14 points was great, but that glosses over the huge impact plays he made that set the state for this W. At the end of the 1st half when we were down double digits, KD put the team on his back and played with incredible intensity to almost single handily cut the lead to 6 by the break. His 2 steals there were massive plays. If Ole Miss scores on those possessions and instead goes to the half up 13 or 14, we may not have gotten out of this one with our winning streak intact. KD has for lack of a better term, "refuse to lose" mode that makes him an incredible asset in a tough game.
@MattAU05 were texting during the game about how quiet Jabari had been with only 2 points in the 1st. With the game on the line late, he came alive and finished with 15. The kid is just unreal. A lot of freshman (or any player period) can't flip a switch like that when they've been held in check all game. We saw late tonight one of the many reasons why Jabari has a great shot of having his name called 1st in the NBA Draft. This move late to score through a double team with his left hand was ridiculous.
16-1 and 5-0. This team is on a remarkable run and the sky is the limit on what they can do the rest of the way. Now we wait till Monday to see if we climb to #1 in the AP or Coaches poll for the first time in program history. I certainly hope that's the case as the guys have earned that honor. I suspect Gonzaga scoring roughly 300 points this week will be enough to keep them ahead of us, but maybe enough voters will notice bama smoked Gonzaga on the west coast while we beat them on their home court. Worrying about whether we will be ranked 1st or 2nd is certainly a problem Auburn fans could have never imagined in the pre-Bruce era.
Monster bounce back game tonight for Walker after 2 rough games. He stayed out of foul trouble tonight and was absolutely dominant on both ends of the floor with an Auburn high 20 points (tied his career high from UNC) and a double double with rebounds. Came within shouting distance of another triple double with 7 blocks. Even added a team high 4 steals. The pick and roll between Walker and Wendell was money tonight.
Wendell with one of his best games of the year tonight from a pure PG standpoint. 7-1 assist to turnover ratio on the road in the SEC is the kind of performance that is going to make us extremely hard to beat. The fact he added 14 points and knocked down huge 3s when the game was hanging in the balance certainly helps too. So many of Walker and Wendell's highlights were a combination of both guys. Wendell had the assist on most of Walker's dunks. Walker's block turning into Wendell's transition three was a huge sequence for us..
KD was huge tonight. His overall stat line with 14 points was great, but that glosses over the huge impact plays he made that set the state for this W. At the end of the 1st half when we were down double digits, KD put the team on his back and played with incredible intensity to almost single handily cut the lead to 6 by the break. His 2 steals there were massive plays. If Ole Miss scores on those possessions and instead goes to the half up 13 or 14, we may not have gotten out of this one with our winning streak intact. KD has for lack of a better term, "refuse to lose" mode that makes him an incredible asset in a tough game.
@MattAU05 were texting during the game about how quiet Jabari had been with only 2 points in the 1st. With the game on the line late, he came alive and finished with 15. The kid is just unreal. A lot of freshman (or any player period) can't flip a switch like that when they've been held in check all game. We saw late tonight one of the many reasons why Jabari has a great shot of having his name called 1st in the NBA Draft. This move late to score through a double team with his left hand was ridiculous.
16-1 and 5-0. This team is on a remarkable run and the sky is the limit on what they can do the rest of the way. Now we wait till Monday to see if we climb to #1 in the AP or Coaches poll for the first time in program history. I certainly hope that's the case as the guys have earned that honor. I suspect Gonzaga scoring roughly 300 points this week will be enough to keep them ahead of us, but maybe enough voters will notice bama smoked Gonzaga on the west coast while we beat them on their home court. Worrying about whether we will be ranked 1st or 2nd is certainly a problem Auburn fans could have never imagined in the pre-Bruce era.
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