Auburn Snaps Losing Streak Against Alabama; Big Stretch Ahead

I am fired up. If you're an Auburn basketball fan and you're not fired up, you need to go to the nearest doctor and get yourself checked out. After dropping two straight heartbreakers on the road to Alabama and Mississippi State, Auburn has bounced back in the best way, winning three straight. Two quad-one victories has the country back on notice, and we are back on track to potentially win another SEC regular season title.

Auburn has played its best basketball of the season since halftime of the Ole Miss game. I'm not sure what Chad Baker-Mazara (also known as Chad Bacon-Lasagna) said to the guys at halftime on Saturday, but whatever he said lit a SCORCHING fire under this team. I think we could potentially be approaching our peak, and it couldn't be coming at a better time.

I would like to quickly talk about the way the game was officiated last night. I am the biggest Auburn fan there is, but I am also a basketball fan. NOBODY likes watching a game where teams combine to shoot 85 free-throws. Auburn shot 50, and Bama shot 35. Granted, Auburn was pounding the ball inside due to Bama's lack of presence in the paint. Eighty-five free throws is just downright ridiculous though. It slowed the game down to the point where the last ten minutes were almost unbearable, and this was in a game where my favorite team was beating our biggest rival by twenty. Doug Shows always seems to be on the officiating crew for Auburn games, and he never seems to be able to get his whistle out of his mouth. The day he retires from officiating will forever be a national holiday in my book.

Now, here are some of my thoughts from last night...

-JOHNI. BROOME. Absolutely electric performance. He is playing almost flawless basketball on both ends of the floor. I think he's beginning to realize that there aren't many bigs in college basketball that can hang with him. He has quickly emerged as one of the best players in not only the SEC, but also the entire country. Keep doing what you're doing, Johni.

-JAYLIN. WILLIAMS. A windmill dunk mid-game??? A career-high 26 points against Alabama??? I have said it many times and I will say it again, he is our x-factor. It is not a coincidence that we play good as a team when he plays good individually. He HAS to stay aggressive for this stretch ahead.

-I've got to tip my hat to Chris Moore. He played the role of "junkyard dog" to perfection last night. He did all the dirty work, crashing the boards, defending 1-5, diving on the floor for loose balls. We don't need him to score or handle the ball. We need him to do exactly what he did last night every single game.

-Aden Holloway is struggling, and I'm honestly a bit surprised. He started the year playing some great basketball, and he has had a pretty big drop-off in production during SEC play. We're going to need him to start knocking down shots more consistently if we want a shot at a deep tournament run.

-If you would have told me that we were going to put up 99 points while only making 5 three's, I would've told you that you're crazy. I love that we recognized the advantage we had in the paint, and we took advantage of it all night. That's what makes this team dangerous. Auburn can beat you from three with flamethrowers like CBM, Denver Jones, and Tre Donaldson, but we can also beat you down inside with guys like J-Will and Johni. Multiple scoring options from multiple spots on the floor will serve us well in March.

-It is February, and we still have not won a game by single-digits. Nineteen wins, and all of them have been by double-digits. Concerning? Ehh. Wild-stat? Absolutely. Before we get into the postseason, I would like to see us be put in a situation where we have to execute one possession to win a game. We have struggled with that in previous years, and as much as I love dominating our opponents, I want to see if this team is able to execute with the game on the line.

These past three wins have been nice, but we absolutely cannot get complacent. Auburn has a BRUTAL stretch over the next five games. At Florida (where we haven't won since before 2000), South Carolina, Kentucky, at Georgia, and at Tennessee. We need to win three of these if we want to stay in contention for an SEC regular season championship. More importantly than that, we need to continue playing good basketball to close out the season. Part of the issue with the 2022 team was that they closed the season on a bit of a cold streak. That can really hurt a team's confidence, and mindset means everything in this sport.

I love where this team is at right now. Let's keep it up on Saturday in Gainesville.