It’s a quick turnaround for Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers. After a long, hard-fought, double-overtime loss against No. 22 UConn, they’re going to have to do it all over again this afternoon.
This time, it’s against Loyola Chicago, in the loser’s bracket of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
Go ahead and grab a plate of all the best Thanksgiving foods, grab a seat by the television and get ready to watch some basketball. And if this matchup is anything like yesterday’s, you might need to grab a second plate.
Yesterday’s game between Auburn and UConn had basketball fans reminiscing over March basketball. Neutral site locations, comebacks, big-time blocks and dramatic, over-time basketball.
Today’s matchup features two unlikely Final Four teams from years past, Loyola Chicago and Auburn.
Loyola Chicago barely missed out on the winner’s bracket of the Battle 4 Atlantis, as a Michigan State bucket with three seconds left put the Spartans up by two for good. It forced the Ramblers to the losers bracket, where they will match up with Auburn.
Auburn, which once trailed by 13 in the second half, came back to force not one, but two overtime periods before the Huskies prevailed.
In that double-overtime Bahamas blast, Auburn saw its leading scorer, K.D. Johnson, emerge as not only a danger to opposing defenses but to any opposing player holding the ball.
Johnson recorded a career-high 27 points in the loss and a game-high five steals, one of which was crucial in forcing a second overtime.
The 6-foot transfer guard will once more be the player to look out for on Auburn’s team when it faces Loyola Chicago. He proved to be one of the biggest factors on the court in his first career start as an Auburn Tiger.
Other Auburn starters in their first year on the Plains to note for today’s contest will be sophomore center Walker Kessler and freshman forward Jabari Smith.
Kessler’s coming off his first career double-double in an Auburn uniform and will look to build off of his performance.
Meanwhile, Smith scored 22 points but most notably was a perfect 12-for-12 from the line. Making free throws down the stretch is a crucial part of closing out games, something that will be important for Auburn in the future. Not to mention Smith’s ability to drive down low and draw fouls.
Smith will not be the only player on the court capable of damaging opponents at the charity stripe.
Loyola Chicago’s leading scorer, Ryan Schwieger, is a perfect 13-for-13 this season at the line. Schwieger is a grad transfer from Princeton who has seen considerable time off the bench for the Ramblers, although he only played eight minutes against Michigan State.
Against the Spartans, however, it was Lucas Williamson who led the scoring charge for the Ramblers. Williamson was the lone player for Loyola Chicago who recorded double figures in points, with 16.
He nearly recorded a double-double with his team-leading eight rebounds as well.
This Loyola Chicago team is like Auburn in that it doesn’t go down easily. Despite falling behind 9-0 to open the game against Michigan State, the Ramblers closed on a 28-14 run in the first half and took a five-point lead into halftime.
Auburn went down by as many as 15 in the second half, but battled back and tied the game to send it to overtime. With two teams that are never out of any ball game, this Thanksgiving matchup is setting up to be a classic first meeting between the two schools.
Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. CST with the game being broadcast on ESPN2.
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Originally from Helena, Ala., Caleb Jones is a senior studying journalism at Auburn University. He has been on staff with The Plainsman since 2019.
You can follow him here on Twitter: @calebjsports
