Auburn's Strong Finish Has Them in a Great Spot Heading into Tournament Play

I've been pretty busy lately, so I haven't had much time to write about these past few Auburn games. Nonetheless, I am here now, and I am very happy with what I have seen out of my team as we approach the SEC Tournament. We dropped a game to Tennessee, but I think that was one of the most complete games we have played all year. Unfortunately for us, Lebron James decided to dress up as Dalton Knecht and play for Tennessee that night. All jokes aside, that kid is special. We then handled business against Mississippi State and Missouri, and we are now in great shape to finish top-four in the conference and get a double-bye in the SEC tournament.

I want to talk just a little bit more about the Tennessee game. Auburn went on the road and put together a fantastic performance against a top 5 team in the country. The final score does not speak to the absolute dog fight that this game was. Auburn led by 8 with about twelve minutes to go, and I actually thought we might be able to pull it off. Dalton Knecht then forgot how to miss a shot and put up 25 points in the final twelve minutes of the game. I've seen some people complain that we didn't double sooner, but I honestly thought we guarded him well for the majority of that run. Tennessee took advantage of the fact that we switch screens, and Knecht got a lot of favorable matchups against Johni Broome. He was hitting contested mid-range jumpers, pull-up three's, tough shots at the rim. Just about any shot you can think of, he was knocking it down. When someone plays like that, you've just gotta tip your cap and move on. I was disappointed by the final score, but I was happy with how we played in that one.

Here are a couple of thoughts I've had during this stretch...

-Guard production could cause problems for us during the NCAA tournament. History has proven that good guard play is one of the keys to a deep run in March, and our guards have been less than impressive in these past three matchups. Either Tre or Aden is going to have to get hot quickly. Otherwise, we could be looking at an early exit from the Big Dance.

-Chaney Johnson continues to impress me more and more every game. He's shining with this bigger role he's been given, and like I've mentioned before, he could be an x-factor for this team in March. He's playing great, efficient basketball. I am super excited for his future with this program.

-I have to confess. Early in the season, I was not a big fan of Johni Broome. I thought he looked lazy, and I even had myself convinced that he was holding this team back defensively. He has proven me wrong. He's scoring at multiple levels on the offensive end, and he is playing fantastic defense at the rim. I thought he had a great showing against Mississippi State's Tolu Smith, who is one of the best bigs in the country. Hats off to Johni Broome. We are going to really miss him when he's gone.

-I want Denver Jones to take more shots. He is an elite shooter, and he's got sneaky athleticism that can help him score around the rim as well. He threw down a lob from Aden Holloway last night, and I was then reminded that he boasted a 33.5 inch vertical back in October when practices started. I think he's a bit passive sometimes. In my opinion, he should be shooting AT LEAST 8 to 9 shots a game. I would like to see Bruce draw up more sets for him down the stretch.

-Jaylin Williams looks to be 100% again. This will be HUGE for Auburn in tournament play. I thought bringing him back against Tennessee might turn out to be a mistake, but he seems to be fine now. I'm very glad that his injury did not end his career at Auburn.

-Dylan Cardwell's three point shot last night looked suspiciously... smooth. Don't get any bright ideas though Dylan. I am okay with him shooting three's when we're up thirty, but if he ever decides to pull up from deep in the middle of a tight contest, I might just break my TV.

I would like to give a shoutout to someone I haven't talked about much at all this year. If you're reading this, you probably know that Lior Berman tore his ACL against Mississippi State last Saturday, officially ending his career in an Auburn uniform. Lior started as a walk-on at Auburn, and he scratched and clawed his way into not only a scholarship, but also a solid role on an SEC team. I don't care if you're an Auburn fan, a Bama fan, a football fan, or a fan of no-one at all. You hate to see a kid that has worked so hard to get to this point have his final season ripped away from him by an injury. I feel for Lior, and I hope he has a quick and easy recovery. He's a true Auburn man, and I wish him nothing but the best.

Auburn will close out the season on Saturday against Georgia at home. It will be Senior Night, so I expect this to be a very emotional game in which Auburn comes out firing on all cylinders. We should win this one, and if either Kentucky or South Carolina lose one of their final two, a win against Georgia will lock in a double-bye in the SEC tournament. There actually is a scenario in which we could have a five-way tie for the regular season conference title, but it would take a lot for this to happen. Don't count on it.

For the NCAA tournament, we are sitting right around the 4-5 seed line. Don't be mistaken, the difference between a 4 seed and a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament is HUGE. 12 seeds currently have a 34.87% win percentage against 5 seeds in the first round of past NCAA tournaments. 13 seeds have only a 21.05% win percentage against 4 seeds in first-round matchups. Auburn really needs to finish strong and lock in that four seed. I would hate to end up on the wrong end of one of those upsets.