Nearly nine months to the day after KT Harrell buried a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to key an upset win over LSU in the SEC Tournament, No. 1 struck again in Nashville.
Though Harrell graduated in May, transfer Kareem Canty slipped into his old uniform and his role as lead guard.
Imitating his predecessor’s March performance at Bridgestone Arena, Canty caught fire late in the second half and nailed a three-pointer with 1.7 seconds left to force overtime.
Auburn was unable to capitalize on the junior’s late-game heroics, however, falling to Middle Tennessee State, 88-81.
“Kareem Canty obviously was very special,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “He was consistently giving great effort throughout the game. I thought he kept his composure throughout the game. And then, as a result, late he gets rewarded by playing so well. But for me, he was really solid throughout, and when he had to take things over, he took things over.”
Though Canty tied his career-high with 28 points, he received little help from his fellow guards.
T.J. Dunans, Bryce Brown, TJ Lang and New Williams shot a combined six of 20, including two of 10 from beyond the arc.
“My teams play best when everybody contributes,” Pearl said. “It’s just hard to beat a good team on the road when we don’t get more productivity from more players. It’s obviously a bit of a lesson learned.”
Auburn built a nine-point halftime lead, but Middle Tennessee State went on a 14-3 run to begin the second half.
Losing big leads has become an early issue for the Tigers, who blew a 15-point lead in a seven-point home loss to Colorado and an 18-point lead in a three-point win at Coastal Carolina.
“That’s my fault,” Canty said. “We get up, and I get a little complacent, so the team gets complacent … Good guards don’t let good leads go away.”
The slow start to the second half appeared to doom the Tigers, but Canty single-handedly erased a six-point deficit with four threes in the final 1:55 of regulation.
With 11.2 seconds left, Canty dribbled the ball into the frontcourt and drove to the right before stepping back and draining a deep three to cap off the comeback.
“After a while, I said, ‘Coach, no ball screens. Just give it to me and I’m going to make a play,’” Canty said. “Actually, my intention was to go in there and get fouled and try to get an and-one. But I seen he tried to cut me off, so I just stepped back. That’s my favorite move, and it worked out for me.”
Auburn was unable to maintain its momentum in overtime, and the Blue Raiders made nine of their 10 free throws in the extra five minutes to pull away.
The game begins a streak of strong non-conference opponents for Auburn. The Tigers return to Auburn Arena to face Mercer on Tuesday before travelling to Cincinnati to play Xavier. They will then head to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic, which will feature four teams that were in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
While the overtime setback was a disappointing way to begin the tough stretch, Pearl believes the experience could be helpful down the road.
“What’ll help us will simply be how we get ready for Mercer Tuesday. What’ll help us is how we handle a loss — how they handle it in the locker room, on the bus going home, tomorrow for practice,” Pearl said. “What are we all willing to do about it? You schedule these games to put your team in harm’s way.”
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