Articles written by Wes Sinor

Senior forward Korvotney Barber (left) battles with Missouri State’s Wade Knapp for the opening tip off Friday night.: Barber led the Tigers in points with 22. JD Schein / PHOTO EDITOR

After losing its season opener last year, the Auburn basketball team started the 2008-09 season off on a better foot by defeating visiting Missouri State 76-60 Friday night.

“They’re a good basketball team that is used to winning,” head coach Jeff Lebo said after the game. “They weren’t going to go away, but we did a good job moving the ball around and getting some points in the paint.”

The Tigers trailed by seven in the first quarter but pulled ahead 34-25 at halftime.

With about 10 minutes to go in the game, the Bears cut the Auburn lead to one at 52-51, but Auburn went on an 11-2 run to get the 16-point win.

Senior forward Korvotney Barber made 10 of his 14 field goals and scored 22 points to lead the Tigers in the victory.

I can’t believe I’m writing this, but I’m actually worried about the game Saturday.

When the season started (when Auburn was a national title contender,) I didn’t think twice about Tennessee-Martin. I remember making fun of its mascot: the Skyhawks. What the heck is that?

But now that the wheels have fallen off at Auburn, one can’t help but wonder if UTM has a shot.

After some research, I found a few things Tiger fans should think about heading into the contest.

UTM averages 40.7 points per game, while Auburn stands at a pitiful 17.6, which ranks 113th out of 120 FBS teams in the nation.

While the most points Auburn has put up all year was 34 in its first game, UTM has scored more than 60 twice — a 63-38 win over Murray State, and an 87-21 win over Concordia. 87.

The Tigers stumble into this homecoming game with a four-game losing streak, and UTM has reeled off three wins in a row and is well rested after a bye last weekend.

UTM plays Division I-AA football in the Ohio Valley Conference and leads the conference at 7-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play.

I wrote a sports column for last week’s paper titled “Tide no threat after halftime.”

In it, I basically went on and on about how Alabama is overrated this year, and that Auburn still has a good chance to beat them.

Because I was entitled to my opinion, I just felt like letting out the frustrations Auburn’s been having by pointing out Alabama’s weaknesses.

Auburn’s lowly performance against West Virginia Thursday night made me look like an idiot, and Alabama handled Tennessee quite well in the second half of its 29-9 Volunteer beat down, which didn’t help either.

But what really surprised me were the online comments my article received.

I probably checked The Plainsman’s Web site 10 times Thursday, and every time I did, new comments were waiting for me.

Apparently, Sports Illustrated has an RSS feed on its site, and my article popped up on Alabama’s SI.com team page, which generated some Crimson Tide fan traffic.

I was quite shocked at all this, especially because the most comments I’ve ever received on an article was two prior to this.

Freshman midfielder Julie King dribbles the ball away from a Tennessee defender.: Auburn defeated Tennessee 2-1 last Sunday and pulled into a tie for first place in the SEC West with LSU. Amanda Irle / PHOTO STAFF

With just one game remaining, the Auburn soccer team has pulled into a tie with LSU for first place in the SEC’s western division.

The Tigers’ 2-1 win over Tennessee on Sunday and 1-0 win at Georgia on Thursday lifted the Tigers to a 10-7-2 overall record and 6-3-1 record in conference play.

Auburn now faces a must-win situation against visiting rival Alabama tomorrow night. LSU (12-3-1, 6-3-1 SEC) will take the West if both teams are still tied after their respective season finales, because the Bayou Bengals hold the tie breaker after LSU’s 2-1 win over Auburn earlier this month. LSU will face off against Arkansas (11-7-0, 4-6-0 SEC) at home tomorrow.

The wins did preserve Auburn a spot in the SEC tournament for the eighth straight season.

Freshman Kelly Fidero, left, and sophomore Alyssa Davis block Gamecock Megan Laughlin’s shot.: JD Schein / PHOTO EDITOR

Auburn’s volleyball team continued to struggle as the Tigers lost their 10th and 11th straight matches last weekend.

Auburn (5-16, 0-10 SEC) lost 3-0 to Florida Friday and 3-1 to South Carolina on Sunday. Both matches were played at home.

“We’re stuck in a rotation, and that’s just our youth coming through,” said first-year assistant coach Chris Campbell. “It’s a process, we are not evaluating our team on wins and losses right now. We are evaluating on steps they are taking along the way. The wins will come eventually.”

Against the No. 8 Gators (16-1, 10-0 SEC), Auburn came out strong in the first set, but could not pull it out, and each subsequent set got worse as Florida left town with the 25-19, 25-16, 25-14 win.

The Tigers jumped out to 4-0 and 5-0 leads in the first and second sets, respectively, as the Gators were forced to come back in both sets to win.

Well, the Crimson Tide squeaked past yet another opponent last weekend with its  24-20 win over Ole Miss.

Now, part of this is just me taking out the frustrations of Auburn’s disappointing season on our most-hated rival.

Actually, all of it is. But I just don’t think Alabama’s as good as everyone thinks.

Alabama’s a first half team this year.

They run up the score and then somehow survive after halftime, allowing the opponent to nearly come back.

Since their big upset win at Georgia, who by the way was also overrated, the Tide struggled to beat Kentucky and the Rebels.

Against Georgia, Alabama was up 31-0 at halftime and only won the game by 11 points, 41-30.

At Kentucky, Alabama went up 14-0 in the first half and then gave up two touchdowns to the Wildcats in the second half.

Leigh Tiffin’s field goal in the fourth quarter allowed the Tide to escape with a 17-14 win.

Auburn junior midfielder Chelsea Yauch, No. 8: battles two LSU opponents for possession of the ball during Friday’s game. Junior forward Stephanie Fransoso, No. 12, looks on. Chris Parent / LSU SPORTS INFORMATION

The Auburn soccer team went 1-1 in last weekend’s road games, losing 2-1 to LSU Friday and beating Arkansas 2-1 Sunday.

Auburn took No. 19 LSU to overtime in Friday’s game, but a turnover just 24 seconds in proved to be costly, as Auburn went down to the Bayou Bengals, 2-1.

“We played great in the first half,” head coach Karen Hoppa said. “We should have been up 3-0.”

Malorie Rutledge of LSU made the game-winning shot from 12 yards out after teammate Melissa Clarke fed her the ball.

It was Rutledge’s fifth goal of the season.

“We made a bad pass that we never really make,” Hoppa said. “It was a really heartbreaking game.”

Earlier, LSU’s Amanda Carreno scored her third goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 in the 63rd minute.

Auburn can’t hold on to early lead; loses 14-13 to Vanderbilt

Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville addresses the media following the 14-13 loss to Vanderbilt Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.: Tuberville said changes were in store for the Tigers’ offense after failing to score in the second half. JD Schein / PHOTO EDITOR

Extra points are often taken for granted, but in tight games they can carry a lot more weight than usual.

Wes Byrum’s missed extra point in the first quarter proved to be costly as Auburn continued to struggle offensively in Saturday’s upset loss to Vanderbilt.

The Commodores rallied from a 13-point deficit to hand Auburn its second loss of the season, 14-13, in front of 38,773 at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville.

“I apologize to the players for not giving them a chance in the second half ,” head coach Tommy Tuberville said after the game. “We didn’t make very good adjustments. But you can’t take anything away from Vanderbilt. I’m not going to make a bunch of excuses. There’s not a lot to say, but this one’s my fault.”

The win marks the first for Vanderbilt against Auburn (4-2, 2-2 SEC) in 14 tries. The last time the Tigers fell to Vandy was in the Gator Bowl in 1955.

The Commodores are now 3-0 in SEC play for the first time since 1950 and 5-0 for the first time since 1943.

The Auburn offense had a strong first quarter, in which the Tigers compiled 129 yards and two passing touchdowns on its first three drives. 

Auburn running back Ben Tate, No. 44, lunges for the goal line in the first half of Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt in Nash: The Commodores held Tate and the Auburn offense out of the end zone on fourth and short. JD Schein / PHOTO EDITOR

Running back Ben Tate, who got the start over Brad Lester, started the game with 40 rushing yards on his first three attempts.

The Tigers turned the ball over after going for the touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line later in the drive.

However, the next two drives ended in touchdown passes. The first was a 7-yard catch from quarterback Chris Todd to receiver Rod Smith and the second a 28-yard pass from Todd to Mario Fannin. The second score was set up following a diving interception by Jerraud Powers.

Just as the game was beginning to look like a blowout, Auburn ran out of gas.

Following the Fannin touchdown, the Tigers failed to put together a successful offensive drive and managed only 56 yards on offense for the rest of the game and only four rushing yards in the second half. They were forced to punt for nine consecutive drives, and the last drive of the game ended in an interception.

Carnell “Cadillac” Williams carries the ball against Arkansas.: Williams was drated in the first round by Tampa Bay, just behind fellow running back Ronnie Brown, who was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. Brown tied an NFL record with five touchdowns against New England Sept. 21. ARCHIVED

In wake of last weekend’s depressing loss to the team that will remain unnamed, I’ve decided to focus on the more positive side of Auburn football — well, sort of.

I started thinking about the Auburn teams of the past, and I really began to miss certain players. Players that were seemingly unstoppable in their prime on the Plains.

So here’s an update on how Auburn alumni are doing in the NFL through the first five weeks of the season:

I think a common fantasy of most sports fans is to actually become a member of their favorite team.

It usually begins when you’re a kid. You imagine getting out there and hitting the game-winning shot or home run alongside your favorite players and coaches.

There’s just something about sports stars; they give off a hero vibe. Even older fans would still be as giddy as a 10 year old if they met their favorite player.

Well, one guy in California appeared to have been literally chasing that dream last Wednesday.

The man, identified as Ronald Higgins, 47, was found on the field at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles Wednesday wearing a Dodgers uniform.

According to an Associated Press report, Higgins allegedly had a glove and baseballs in his hands and claimed to be a member of the Dodgers when he was discovered by a guard, who recognized Higgins from “an earlier incident.”

Higgins pleaded not guilty to burglary and trespassing Friday, along with some other charges. If found guilty, Higgins could face up to four years in prison.