Hoops talk
The past two weeks have been disappointing for Steven Pearl’s Tigers.
Auburn has dropped its last four – all against Quad I games – and now faces a must-win situation on Wednesday night against Mississippi State.
Here is Auburn’s remaining schedule: at Mississippi State; vs. No. 25 Kentucky; at Oklahoma; vs. Ole Miss; vs. LSU; and at Alabama.
Auburn can likely afford losses to Kentucky and Alabama, but it must handle Mississippi State, steal one in Norman, and take care of Ole Miss and LSU to stay in postseason conversations.
It seems it will have to do so without its most prolific scorer Keyshawn Hall, whom Pearl said pregame against Arkansas was sidelined for disciplinary reasons and is out indefinitely.
Tahaad Pettiford has found his footing, averaging 25 points per game with six assists in the Tigers’ last three outings. KeShawn Murphy recorded his fourth double-double of the season against Arkansas with 18 of his 22 points coming in the first half.
But Auburn received just four bench points against the Razorbacks, and it needs more from its role players without Hall on the floor.
There’s no doubt it’s been a disappointing season – compared to the expectations set for Auburn hoops. For Auburn, the path forward starts Wednesday in Starkville.
Auburn baseball opens with sweep
It’s officially baseball season on the Plains.
Auburn kicked things off with a season-opening sweep of Youngstown State over the weekend behind a stellar performance from its pitching staff. It marks the fifth time under head coach Butch Thompson and the 29th time in the modern era (since 1949) that Auburn has started the season 3-0.
Auburn won the first two games of the series 2-1, the first time in program history it has opened up the season with back-to-back one-run victories.
The Tigers piled up 43 strikeouts, marking the most in a three-game series since at least 1992 and tied for the most in any three-game span since striking out 45 in three games from Feb. 15-20, 1997. As a staff, Auburn threw 70 percent strikes on the weekend while the defense did not commit an error in the 26 innings played.
Auburn’s star second baseman, Chris Rembert, will be out for a few weeks after a preliminary diagnosis of an interior ankle sprain suffered on an awkward slide into second base.
The Tigers will return to the diamond tomorrow night for a midweek matchup against Cincinnati, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. at Plainsman Park.
Another week, another Jackson Koivun award
Auburn may need to carve extra space on its Mount Rushmore of stellar athletes.
After another stellar weekend at the Gator Invitational, Koivun became the Auburn men’s golf all-time wins leader. He won the event, held in Gainesville, Fla., by two strokes at 9-under-par.
Koivun opened with a blistering 6-under 64, then closed 69-68 to seal the victory.
He now owns a program record with 26 career top-10 finishes, landing in the top 10 in 84 percent of his collegiate starts andinside the top 20 in 94 percent.
Until next time… TG
