Auburn Slaughters South Carolina, Keeps SEC Championship Hopes Alive

Neville Arena has claimed yet another victim. A top-15 matchup between Auburn and South Carolina quickly turned into a murder-scene as Auburn picked up its 20th and, arguably, most impressive victory. I am now fully convinced that if every game was played in Auburn, no matter the opponent, this team would simply never lose.

Auburn is now tied for second place in the SEC with some very winnable games left on the schedule. Alabama is currently sitting half a game ahead at number one with Auburn and South Carolina close behind. Bama has some tough matchups remaining, so if we can win the games we are supposed to win, I think that an SEC regular season championship is still very much in play. The only game we won't be favored in is at Tennessee, and if we win every remaining game besides this one, we will finish with a 13-4 record in conference play. This should be good enough for at least a share of the title.

As always, here's some of my thoughts from last night....

-South Carolina hasn't given up 80 points to a single opponent all season. We hung 101 on them. 61% from the field, 60% (!!!!) from three, 89.5% from the line. You can't really ask for a more efficient game than that. GREAT basketball.

-Jaylin and Johni combined to shoot 9-12 from three last night. This is cool, and I love the confidence, but I hope that this doesn't cause them to settle for three's too often. Auburn has showed on multiple occasions this year that we can shoot ourselves out of a contest. At App State, at Bama, at Mississippi State, all losses where we shot less than 30% from three. It's okay for guys like Jaylin and Johni to shoot them, but it is important that they are able to quickly identify when shots aren't falling and focus on attacking the basket.

-Still no single-digit wins. 20 wins, all by double digits. I would like to see us win a close game so that I at least know we can.

-It was awesome to see Jalen Harper, Jared Harper's little brother, score the 100th point last night. It almost felt like I was back in 2019. Those guys are the one's that took this program to the next level.

-Aden Holloway has to be better. Simple as that. When he isn't making shots, he's almost unplayable. Guard play is so important in March. Tre Donaldson has been great this year, and I expect him to be a guy we can lean on during the postseason, but we have to be able to sustain a high-level of play when he isn't on the court. I was almost hoping that Bruce would just put Aden in and tell him to shoot his way out of this slump when we extended the lead to 30 last night.

-Chad Baker-Mazara makes it his personal mission every night to make somebody mad. Last night's victim was Meechie Johnson. Some guys just play better when they're talking trash. CBM is one of those guys.

-KD Johnson might be the funniest player I've ever watched. He is listed at a whopping 6 feet tall on Auburn's website. This height deficit will certainly not prevent him from going for an absolutely egregious dunk attempt at least once a game.

College Gameday will be back in Auburn for the Kentucky game on Saturday. There were students setting up tents immediately after the game last night. I think this is a must-win type of situation for Auburn. We're fighting for an SEC title, we're fighting for seeding in March, and most of all, I just really want to beat Kentucky. The environment will be electric.