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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn basketball's historic season ends in blowout loss to Clemson

Auburn went 10:33 of game time without a made field goal and shot 26 percent overall

All throughout its 2017-18 SEC regular season championship campaign, Auburn was a second-half team. The Tigers staged comebacks all year against their rigorous SEC schedule.

To test that rally ability, Clemson handed Auburn the largest halftime deficit of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, 43-19. At that point, Charles Barkley called game.

“I love my guys, but this one is over,” Barkley said during the halftime broadcast.

No. 5 seed Clemson was up 41 points at one point in its 84-53 win over No. 4 seed Auburn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday night in San Diego, California. The winning Tigers shot 48 percent for the game, while Auburn turned in a season-low 26 percent.

"Dominating performance by Clemson," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "They played great, they've been playing really well. They were very well prepared and they dominated us."

In the opening half, Clemson went on a 25-4 scoring blast in which Auburn shot 0-for-15. The drought lasted approximately eight minutes and was broken by a pair of Chuma Okeke free throws.

Auburn missed its last 18 shots of the first half en route to the colossal deficit at the break, going 10:33 of game time without a field goal. The 18.2 percent clip from the floor for Auburn was the worst in a half in 2018, besting the 22 percent mark in the second half of the team’s quarterfinal loss to Alabama in the SEC Tournament.

"We were down to just eight scholarship players in the last six weeks of the season," Pearl said. "We managed to hang on and win an SEC regular season championship. I'm so proud of my players, I'm so proud of our program. But obviously we're very disappointed with the way we played tonight."

Bryce Brown broke the field goal drought with a triple on the first possession of the second half. The junior finished tied with Mustapha Heron as Auburn’s leading scorers for the game with 12 points apiece.

"I really don't know where we lost our focus at," Brown said. "All I can honestly remember is (Clemson) had a few stretches where they came and knocked down shots and we came down and took bad shots."

Clemson’s bigs dominated at the rim the entire night, winning the points-in-the-paint battle 34-14 and outrebounding Auburn 50-32. However, it was the deep shots from the orange and purple Tigers that stretched the lead to insurmountable stages.

Clemson guard Gabe Devoe led all scorers with 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Forward Elijah Thomas contributed 18 points behind an efficient 7-for-10 mark from the floor.

"It was brutal," Pearl said. "You feel bad because you want to represent Auburn, you want to represent your conference. We haven't made excuses all season long. This group has been resilient enough to get a 4 seed, to advance in the NCAA Tournament, to win an SEC Championship. We were a little overmatched, and Clemson showed that tonight."

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The 31-point defeat is the worst NCAA Tournament loss in program history for Auburn (20-point loss in Round of 32 vs. 1-seed Oklahoma, 1988).

Clemson advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1997, while Auburn is bounced in the Round of 32 in its first Big Dance appearance since 2003.

"This doesn't take anything away," Pearl said. "This is where we want our program. I have no seniors. I feel good about the foundation of our program. These kids have been amazing all season long. This doesn't take away from the championship season."

Picked in the preseason to finish ninth in the conference, Auburn ends the year at 26-8, reaching its highest win total since 1999. Clemson, which was picked 13th of 14 ACC teams, will face No. 1 seed Kansas for a shot at the program’s second-ever Elite Eight appearance (1980). 


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