Cinmeon Bowers Plays Well, But Auburn Drops Their 7th Straight Game

Cinmeon Bowers played well all around and finished with yet another double-double, but Auburn (9-15, 3-9) lost their 7th straight game, this time at the hands of Vanderbilt (15-10, 7-5), who are trying to improve its resume for the selection committee.

Bowers started things off with a nice drive to the basket, and finished the layup to give Auburn a 2-0 lead. Bowers would continue to play well for most of the day, but as a whole it all went down the hill from there for Auburn. Bowers finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds after a game in which he played with a lot of energy. The senior forward made it clear that he doesn’t just want to let his final season end. He’s going to do what he can to give Auburn a shot to win at least another game.

Bryce Brown and TJ Lang added 14 points a piece, but they shot a combined 8-28 from the field and 6-18 from three. Auburn’s failure to make shots was once again their downfall in this game as they shot 29% from the field as a team, but it at least snapped their three-game streak of season low shooting percentages. Lang put up 18 shots including 12 threes in the game, but still passed up some looks that he should probably take. On an Auburn team with their normal players, Lang can be a really good spot-up, high-percentage shooter, but when Auburn needs offense from wherever it can get it, I would like to see Lang be a little less hesitant to take his shots.

With my standards set so low based on Auburn’s current roster, I thought they played pretty well. Shots need to fall for them to have a chance of getting another win, but for most of the game they played as well as a narrow roster can. Even the crowd was a pleasant surprise. Granted most left really early, but it was nice to see a moderately full Auburn Arena considering all that has transpired this season. The fans that stuck it out to the end were treated to a fun final few minutes when Bruce Pearl emptied the bench and let all of the walk-ons get some playing time. Cole Blackstock got another and-1 on the season and is now 2-2, converting the and-1 on instances both times this season. Jonathan Walker also added a late 3 to keep the margin under 30 points.

While Cinmeon Bowers was playing hard most of the day, Vanderbilt as a team played like they know it is on the bubble and need to finish strong. The Commodores played with a lot of energy instead of just cruising to a victory over a very under-manned Auburn team. Vanderbilt was celebrating every basket it got, and there were quite a few of them.

Auburn didn’t allow a triple-double this time around, and didn’t even allow a Vandy player to get a double-double. Damian Jones finished with a team high 17 points and nine rebounds, six on the offensive glass. Jones also demonstrated his ability to knock down jump shots as Auburn was unable to close out and guard the perimeter. Vanderbilt shot 49% from the field and out-rebounded Auburn 47-38 on the way to an easy victory. Auburn did manage to shoot 13-16 (81%) from the free throw line for about the only advantage over Vanderbilt who shot a pretty abysmal 46% from the line.

Maybe it was my optimism coming through, but to me Auburn looked to be playing with more energy with Kareem Canty officially gone. Canty added his fair share of points to the scoreboard, but when Auburn got down he tended to be the main guy lowering his head and that kind of behavior spreads quickly, especially with a young team. Auburn never really kept the game close, but the Tigers did finish with just 12 turnovers to 13 assists on the day and didn’t give up to the point of making really bad plays. I like Bowers at the point, especially when he plays with this kind of passion at home. Bowers finished with five assists and was very audibly frustrated at one point when a teammate didn’t choose to take a shot that he tossed them on the perimeter. Despite his inconsistencies, I’m looking forward to what Cinmeon Bowers can do the rest of this season. If Auburn gets another win, I think it will be behind a big game from the 6′-7″ point guard.

Auburn now carries its seven-game losing streak to Bud Walton Arena, one of the most hostile environments in the SEC, where they will face Arkansas (12-13, 5-7) and attempt to get its first win on the road in conference play. The Tigers will be a long shot to get the win on Wednesday, but hopefully they can manage to keep scoring over 50 points. It’s sad that my expectations for this team is to just score 50 points and not lose by 30 points, but with everything that’s happened, that’s just how it is.