Entering the SEC Tournament as its top-ranked seed, Auburn will be looking for its first tournament win since 2015.
Auburn will play the winner of Alabama and Texas A&M.
For what is expected to be a close tournament, two games separate the No. 4 and No. 10 seeds.
Auburn will play a team it has lost to in its first round. Texas A&M defeated the Tigers in Auburn Arena on Feb. 7, while Alabama stole a game from Bruce Pearl’s team in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 17.
It will be the first time that Auburn hasn’t played in a tournament play-in game since they were created.
South Carolina head coach Frank Martin defined the tournament as “crazy.”
“Right now, you have high-level basketball by every single team in this league,” he said. “That is going to make for a great conference tournament.”
Auburn will start the tournament with two second-team All-SEC players, Bryce Brown and Jared Harper, and without its lone All-Defensive player, Anfernee McLemore.
After ending an 18-year regular-season championship drought, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said his team’s success “means more” because of the conference’s overall success this season.
“To win the league wire to wire in the year when this league ... I don’t know if any of you have seen it better, top to bottom or bottom to top ... is a tremendous accomplishment,” he said.
Here is a look at some of the top moments that led to the Tigers’ first SEC title since 1999.
5 — vs. Georgia
Changes made during halftime quickly became a regular for Auburn.
Following its 14-point halftime deficit, Pearl’s squad came back to defeat Georgia 79-65. Bryce Brown led the game in scoring with 28 on 9-of-15 shooting, including 25 in Auburn’s 53-point second half.
Auburn had just returned home from a loss to Alabama that snapped a 14-game winning streak and previously had faced similar deficits.
In each of its last three games, Auburn trailed at halftime by 10, 11 and 14 points. It would go on to outscoring each opponent in the second half by 25, 19 and 28, respectively.
Second-half success for Auburn became a natural progression from slow starts, and its 14-point victory at home over Georgia defined the success of Auburn Arena.
Auburn finished the regular season with a 15-1 home record with a 16.8 scoring margin.
An emphatic dunk by Mustapha Heron, who finished with 14 points and three steals, kept the crowd on its feet throughout the Tigers’ 33-4 run.
“We just never got the building calmed down,” Georgia head coach Mark Fox said. “We got caught up in the emotion of the building.”
Pearl said the win showcased his team’s chemistry.
“That was as pretty of
4 — at Tennessee
In its conference opener against Tennessee, Pearl had an opportunity to win his first game in Knoxville since leaving the Volunteers.
And it came with another 14-point comeback and second-half scoring burst.
Brown and Jared Harper combined for 18 points each in Auburn’s 94-84 win over then-No. 23 Tennessee. Though Auburn started the second half shooting 0-of-9 from three, the slow start quickly evaporated as the Tigers outrebounded the Volunteers 46-38.
Auburn’s 52-point second half was the team’s second straight, and it brought the team its first win over a ranked team since 2016.
In addition, it was Auburn’s first win in Knoxville since 1998, one year prior to its last regular-season championship.
Pearl said his team’s first taste of in-conference adversity came at a good time.
“We didn’t play very well, and we were off our game in many ways,” he said. “The opponent had a lot to do with that, but the guys kind of battled back.”
After Auburn improved to 13-1 on the season, Brown said that his team’s victory and national exposure showcased the team’s tenacity.
“Right now, we’re playing with a huge chip on our shoulder,” he said. “Showing everybody we can go play with anybody and knocking off a top-25 team was very big and the start of it.”
3 — vs. Kentucky
Entering the game at 23-3 overall and No.10 in the AP Poll, Auburn may have been undersized, but they were not underdogs against perennial powerhouse Kentucky. The Tigers, despite a cold start from the field, used a 13-2 run down the stretch to defeat the Wildcats, 76-66. Auburn won consecutive home games against Kentucky for the first time in 28 years.
Leading-scorer Bryce Brown returned from a shoulder injury to lead the Tigers with 18 points and knock down four 3-pointers, while sophomore guard Jared Harper also added 18 points and seven assists. Anfernee McLemore earned himself another double-double tallying 13 points and 11 rebounds against the much bigger Kentucky team, while Desean Murray, who stands at 6-foot-3, had nine points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Mustapha Heron scored 11 points despite 4-of-14 shooting. Auburn, who leads the league in free-throw percentage, made 24 of 28 foul shots.
It was a role reversal for the two programs. The win marked only the third time a ranked Auburn team faced an unranked Kentucky team and the first since 1987.
2 — vs. Alabama
It’s been a next-man-up mentality for Auburn all season and it was no different in the Iron Bowl. The Tigers crushed Alabama 90-71, despite missing two key players.
Jared Harper led Auburn with 21 points, and freshman Chuma Okeke had a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 12 Auburn defeat the Crimson Tide. The Tigers were without Mustapha Heron, who was held out due to a stomach illness, and Anfernee McLemore, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury at South Carolina the week before.
Down to seven scholarship players, the Tigers relied on their bench players to step up, and they did. In addition to Okeke’s performance, Malik Dunbar also had a season-high 14 points. Desean Murray scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds while Bryce Brown added 18 points, despite only making 3-of-14 from beyond the arc.
Following a loss to South Carolina in which they lost McLemore for the season, the Iron Bowl was a must-win. After having its lead cut to one point early in the second half, Auburn took control of the game with a 17-2 run to improve to 12-3 in conference play.
Auburn moves a step closer to clinching its third SEC title and first since 1999. For a team that has been playing without key players all year, the win against a long and athletic Alabama team is a much-needed confidence builder.
1 - vs. South Carolina
After dropping two straight, and in desperate need of a win with the conference title on the line, junior Bryce Brown stepped up.
Brown scored 29 points, knocking down eight 3-pointers, as No. 14 Auburn claimed a share of the Southeastern Conference title with a 79-70 comeback victory over South Carolina. Jared Harper finished with 18 points and eight assists, while Mustapha Heron added 12 points and was perfect from the free-throw line, making all 10 of his attempts. Horace Spencer also scored 11 points.
After missing its first eight 3-pointers and starting 2-of-15 from the field, the Tigers showed resiliency to earn a comeback victory at home after losing back-to-back games on the road at Arkansas and at Florida.
Auburn finishes the regular season with an overall record of 25-6, and 13-5 record in SEC play. The Tigers earned the top seed in the SEC tournament with its first regular-season championship since 1999. Auburn shares the conference title with Tennessee, but the Tigers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Volunteers.
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