Auburn Seniors Look For Another Big Upset in Final Home Game of Season
By Jacob Varner
After failing to get the win over rival Alabama on Saturday, Auburn now returns home to Auburn Arena to face Texas A&M on senior day. Auburn (11-17, 5-11) will host Texas A&M (22-7, 11-5) who has won four straight games and is tied with Kentucky at the top of the SEC standings.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Texas A&M seemed to be on quite a decline after starting off their SEC season in dominant fashion. Had this game been just a week or two ago I might have had faith in Auburn keeping it close. Unfortunately, A&M has started to roll again and this will end up being a very tough game for Auburn as Cinmeon Bowers, Tyler Harris, and Jordon Granger play their last games in Auburn Arena.
Texas A&M has been led all season long by their two seniors, Danuel House and Jalen Jones. Both are 6-foot-7 and have the athleticism to play from many areas of the court. Each of them will be a matchup nightmare for Cinmeon Bowers and Tyler Harris. As if the two forwards weren’t enough to deal with, the Aggies also have 6-foot-10 freshman center, Tyler Davis who has had an excellent freshman season so far.
It took a late technical foul on Kentucky to help Texas A&M get the win at home over the Wildcats a week ago, but there’s no doubt that the Aggies have plenty of talent to hold their spot at the top of the SEC. Auburn was able to knock off Kentucky earlier this season in Auburn Arena, but with an even more limited roster now it will take an even more impressive performance from the Tigers to get the win over Texas A&M. The home crowd also played a big part in the win over Kentucky, and even with it being senior night, I don’t expect a huge crowd on Tuesday when Auburn faces Texas A&M.
With it being senior day, Auburn will need its three seniors to step up and have good games all at the same time. Jordon Grangers specifically needs to step up and have a game like he did against Georgia. If Auburn is going to keep up with Texas A&M’s skilled forwards, they’ll need Granger to play big and play well both on offense and defense. Cinmeon Bowers and Tyler Harris will also have to contribute their points and Auburn can’t afford to have both guys shoot poorly at the free throw line and from close range once again.
While the night will be focused on the seniors, Auburn has been successful based on the play of two key freshman lately. Horace Spencer and Bryce Brown will once again have to have great games if Auburn wants to hand out another massive upset in Auburn Arena. Spencer is about the only player that stands a good chance of keeping Tyler Davis away from the basket, but he has to stay out of foul trouble to be effective. It is up to Bryce Brown to space out the game and turn it into a shooting contest.
This is ultimately a game between a solid tournament team who has been in the top 25 most of the year, and a depleted Auburn team that could have been a bubble team at their very best this season. This is an unfortunate game to have scheduled as senior day, but the seniors will have to make the most of it.
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These three seniors deserve a lot of credit for what they have contributed this season, and in in previous seasons in Bowers and Granger’s case. Hopefully there will be a good crowd there to send these seniors off in the right way. If not to support the seniors, fans should at least come to see Auburn play a really good basketball team and possibly get another major upset.
If Auburn can start fast and shoot efficiently in the beginning, they might be able to keep it close or get a small lead early on, but after that I think the superior play of A&M will eventually be quite obvious. Not only is Texas A&M a very good basketball team this year, they also match up quite well against Auburn. While I hope it’s not quite as bad as it could be, I do think Texas A&M will beat Auburn 85-60 and the seniors won’t get the ideal send off that the deserve.