Men's Basketball

Pearl: Returning seniors will have 'new role' in 2019 year with new faces

By Sumner Martin | Assistant Sports Editor | September 25

“Excited to get started. Excited about our length, our size, our athleticism. Our biggest challenge is going to be our seniors — all are going to be playing a brand new role,” Pearl said.

Bruce Pearl agrees to five-year extension with Auburn

By Jake Weese | Sports Writer | April 12

After the best year in program history, Auburn has agreed with men's basketball head coach Bruce Pearl to a new five-year contract set at $3.8 million a year.

Bryce Brown's heroics bring Auburn within moments of national championship berth

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | April 7

MINNEAPOLIS — Bryce Brown sat in the corner of the locker room with his eyes red from the moments that will sit with him forever. The tears weren’t a result of Kyle Guy’s free throws, losing in the Final Four or missing a shot in the game’s final second. After four years at Auburn, Brown was ...

Heartbreak: Auburn's magical season ends at Final Four

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | April 6

MINNEAPOLIS — The run is over. In its 63-62 loss to top-seeded Virginia on Saturday night, Auburn ended the 12-game winning streak that led it to its first Final Four appearance. Virginia took the win and the national championship berth following a foul call at the buzzer that finished with Kyle Guy ...

How Auburn plans to rely on experience in the absence of Chuma Okeke

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | April 6

MINNEAPOLIS — It has been three years since Auburn last had an offense without Chuma Okeke. Danjel Purifoy was Auburn’s second-leading scorer. Jared Harper, Austin Wiley and Anfernee McLemore were each freshman. Horace Spencer was a sophomore. It was the program’s first winning season in eight ...

Bruce Pearl reflects on coaching Division II, changing basketball culture in Auburn

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | April 5

MINNEAPOLIS — It may have been a different stage, but Bruce Pearl has been here before. After transitioning from an assistant coach position at Iowa to his first head coaching job at Southern Indiana, Pearl developed a 10-win team into a back-to-back national championship contender. The team lost ...

Bryce Brown's hot shooting night leads explosive Auburn offense in win over Kansas

By Jake Weese | Sports Writer | March 24

It was fitting that on late Saturday night with most of the country watching, the best player during Auburn's second-round win over Kansas was Bryce Brown. The same Brown that has helped set the foundation for Auburn to establish itself as a basketball program. Freshman year saw Auburn ...

Auburn rides offensive surge to earn NCAA Tournament win over Kansas, trip to Sweet 16

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | March 23

In Auburn’s 89-75 win over Kansas on Saturday, Auburn secured its first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2003. Bryce Brown finished with a game-high 25 points on 9-for-11 shooting.

Scouting Report: Previewing Auburn's NCAA Tournament matchup with New Mexico State

By Bryce Johnson | Sports Writer | March 18

Auburn is slated to play New Mexico State in the opening round of this year’s NCAA tournament, and though the team is a mid-major from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), they have an upset run up their sleeve if Auburn doesn’t play at its highest level. Since 2010, New Mexico State has ...

Auburn jumps to No. 14 in final regular season poll

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | March 18

Bruce Pearl's squad continues to move up. Auburn has jumped eight spots in the poll to No. 14, the Associated Press announced Monday morning. The leap is the largest of any team in the top 25. Auburn is ranked as the fourth-highest team in the SEC behind No. 12 LSU, No. 7 Kentucky and No. 6 Tennessee. The ...

Auburn rallies from double-digit deficit in win at Alabama

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | March 5

After a make by Jared Harper at the free-throw line, Bruce Pearl’s squad couldn’t miss. Auburn continued to rally after trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half in its 66-60 win over Alabama on Tuesday night. Chuma Okeke tied his career-high with 14 rebounds to finish off his fifth ...

'Embarrassing': Auburn routed by No. 4 Kentucky in Lexington

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | February 23

Aspirations for March fell with a Saturday meeting in Rupp Arena. With an 80-53 loss to No. 4 Kentucky, Auburn can now only finish as high as fourth in the conference with the final two weeks of the regular season remaining. Head coach Bruce Pearl's squad will meet with Georgia, Mississippi State, Alabama ...

Auburn's turnover struggles lead to loss at No. 21 LSU

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | February 9

It’s easier said than done, Bruce Pearl said, to have a good start on the road and come away with a win. “It sounds good,” Pearl said Friday afternoon, “but the reality is if you don’t start well, you can continue to compete, claw, scratch and fight and you can still have a chance.” In an ...

Behind Enemy Bylines: Previewing Auburn basketball vs. Florida with The Alligator

By Nathan King | Sports Editor | February 5

Ahead of Auburn basketball's meeting with Florida at home Tuesday night, The Plainsman posed questions for Jake Dreilinger, sports editor for The Independent Florida Alligator. Here's how he sees the action playing out inside Auburn Arena. In last year's Florida win in this game, KeVaughn Allen was ...

Auburn blows out Missouri to end losing streak

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | January 30

It wasn’t the second half that Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin had expected after going into halftime with a three-point deficit. And then the 3-pointers began to fall. With a 92-58 win over Missouri Wednesday night, Auburn ended its three-game skid with the program’s largest margin of victory ...

Previewing No. 16 Auburn's trip to No. 22 Mississippi State

By Olivia Huskey | Sports Writer | January 26

Coming off of a two-game losing streak, the No. 16 Auburn Tigers hope to turn things around at No.22 Mississippi State Saturday night. The Bulldogs are 9-1 at home this season, and in the past 16 meetings between the Tigers and Bulldogs in Starkville, Mississippi State has won 14. “They’re really ...

Auburn dominates Texas A&M 85-66 to earn first road victory

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | January 16

There’s no place like home — sometimes. Through a 85-66 win at Texas A&M Wednesday night, No. 14 Auburn earned its first road victory with No. 12 Kentucky on the horizon. Bryce Brown finished tied for a game-high 22 points, with 19 of his total coming as Auburn’s final points going into halftime. "I ...

Auburn looks to avoid road woes with trip to Texas A&M

By Ben Key | Sports Writer | January 16

Auburn is off to a hot start this season with a 12-3 record while avoiding multiple losses in the same month. The first loss of the season came early during the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, with a late-game stretch against then-No. 1 Duke before losing 78-72. In the loss, Auburn would post its second-highest ...

No. 14 Auburn at Texas A&M: Players to watch, keys to victory

By Zach Tantillo | Sports Reporter | January 16

With notable players missing from last year's teams on both squads, here a few players to watch and some keys to victory.

Auburn returns home with offensive surge in 93-78 win over Georgia

By Tyler Roush | Assistant Sports Editor | January 12

Returning home continues to make a difference for Auburn. In its 93-78 win over Georgia, Auburn would post five players in double-digit scoring while shooting 50 percent from the floor. During its loss at Ole Miss, Auburn had just two while shooting 32 percent. Over the last 25 games inside Auburn Arena, ...