Thoughts from Auburn’s Loss to Oklahoma State

Auburn had their worst shooting performance of the season and fell at home to Oklahoma State 63-74. Auburn is now 9-11 on the year although this was just the Tiger’s third loss in Auburn Arena this season.

I was really worried early in the game when Auburn got down by 10-15 points within the first few minutes and had a fear that “road Auburn” had showed up to a game in Auburn Arena. Auburn didn’t seem to be playing their worst basketball, but Oklahoma State was shooting really well, especially from three, and that was the main reason for their sudden large lead. The Cowboys eventually slowed down towards the end of the first half and Auburn was able to cut into the lead with a few consecutive good offensive possessions.

Shooting, of all varieties, was the major difference in this game. Auburn shot 29 percent from the field for the entire game and shot 20 percent from three-point range, including 0-12 in the second half. Also, in a game that had plenty of stops due to the 49 combined fouls called, Auburn only shot 68 percent from the free throw line compared to Oklahoma State’s 84 percent. This isn’t the first time the Tigers have struggled at the line, and it probably won’t be the last, but it really hurt us in this game.

There were several instances where Auburn was down 5-7 points and the Tigers were going to the line for 2-3 shots but couldn’t make 1-of-2 of them. So instead of cutting into a lead, they just let the lead sit there. The crowd was weak for most of the night, but there were moments where it felt like it was ready to come alive if Auburn could just cut the lead or get a big play when they needed it.

Unfortunately, Auburn was only able to get the lead as close as five and the lead was closer to 10 or more for most of the game. Obviously the crowd wasn’t as good as it was for Kentucky and Alabama because of the teams playing, but even the fans that did show up didn’t have a lot to cheer for. There was almost just as much booing as cheering as Auburn continued to shoot poorly and the officials continued to call fouls on every possession. It was just a hard game to watch and seemed to be a hard game to play in from the expressions of Bryce Brown and Horace Spencer.

Speaking of Horace Spencer, he played an very good game after getting the start while Cinmeon Bowers sat out for a suspension. Spencer finished with 11 rebounds and 6 blocks. Spencer dominated the paint all night long and was able to stay out of foul trouble much better than he has in previous games, even with the increase in playing time. The offensive game is still a work in progress since Spencer has essentially no post game with his back to the basket, but he played hard and fought for rebounds the entire night.

Ultimately, this team has their backs right up against the wall. With Cinmeon Bowers sitting out for “conduct detrimental to the team” Auburn had five guys sitting out (Tahj Shamsid-Deen, T.J. Dunans, Danjel Purifoy, Cinmeon Bowers, and Trayvon Reed) that could basically form a starting 5 better than the one we currently have on the floor. Auburn has played much better at home this season, but down to just 7-8 guys that are even capable of playing at a decent level makes it where even a good home court advantage can’t help get wins.

Auburn is playing poor team basketball and players like Kareem Canty and Tyler Harris are feeling like they have to do way too much. Canty was able to get 21 points and played well, but Tyler Harris seemed to struggle and was trying to do too much, although he eventually got to 16 points.

Auburn basketball has been really hard to watch lately, but I’m still glad that we got wins over Kentucky and Alabama with a depleted roster and a season that is heading south more and more as the season goes along.

Despite the poor performance last night and the past couple of games, I’m still delighted to see Bruce Pearl teaching and coaching to the final whistle, even if Auburn has no chance of winning. I know this season is hard for him, seeing as it will most likely be only his second losing season of his career, and it gets harder for the players as well.

Hopefully Auburn continues to fight, but if they shoot as poorly as they did last night and the last few games, it’s going to be a long end to the season. Hopefully fans are aware of the circumstances and continue to be supportive, because I know I will.