Might be an unpopular opinion, but I blame this loss mostly on CBM. Changed the whole dynamic of the game with his foolishness. That and we have a bunch of guys that can’t make the free points when it matters most. Free throw shooting is essential for championship caliber teams. Disappointed that we didn’t play to our potential in this year’s tournament. Still, thankful for the SEC Championship & for what Bruce has done for this program.
Officiating. Plain and simple.
On the trip down the court before, the trust fund baby threw a fist into Baker's face/throat. Official looking directly at it. No call. On the "flagrant 2", the trust fund baby tried to run through Baker from behind. There was jostling. No more egregious than what you'd see on any possession in the SEC on any given night. Just a normal Wednesday "get off me bitch" play.
Auburn's strength all season was its ability to shut down offenses with aggressive defensive play. It was never scoring, guard play, Broome dominating, or any of that. Auburn won because it shut down the opposition. Period. That's who we were.
How many teams scored 78 or more on Auburn all season? EIGHT. Just eight. Auburn lost four of those games. The other four were runaways and the scoring came after the outcome was decided.
When it became obvious that looking sideways at the trust fund babies was going to result in whistles? It changed everything.
Auburn was the same team on the offensive side of the ball it was all season long. Unfortunately it had to play defense with both hands tied behind its back.
That's not an excuse. They still should have beaten Yale. But the confused, tentative team I saw on defense bore little resemblance to the aggressive dominating team we've seen all season.
Those are the facts.