Game 772 - (5) Auburn vs. (1) Virginia

NCAA Tournament national semifinals
April 6 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN
CBS

Virginia is one win away from its first national title after a crazy ending Saturday.

Kyle Guy was fouled (?) by Samir Doughty on a three-point attempt with no time on the clock and knocked down all three free throws to secure the Cavaliers' 63-62 victory. Guy finished with 15 points and those were his only free throw attempts. Ty Jerome was great for the Cavaliers, scoring 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting.

No field goals were made after Bryce Brown's three with 1:56 left gave Auburn a 59-57 cushion. Brown hit four threes, but he and Jared Harper were just 8-of-22 combined from the floor to help send the Tigers home.

The Cavaliers, now 34-3, advance to the title game after losses in the 1981 and 1984 final four.

Virginia was also the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 in the opening round as Maryland-Baltimore County got the Cavs in last year's tournament. 

Games 769-770: Final two Elite 8 spots up for grabs

770 - (4) Virginia Tech vs. (1) Duke
NCAA Tournament regional semifinals
March 29 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC
CBS

"dribble drives"

13:52 left in first half, Bill Raftery

769 - (5) Auburn vs. (1) North Carolina
NCAA Tournament regional semifinals
March 29 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO
TBS

Game 585 - (13) Charleston vs. (4) Auburn

NCAA Tournament first round
March 16 at Viejas Center in San Diego, CA
TruTV

Charleston was trying to become the third 13-seed to win these past two days (Buffalo, Marshall), but fell just short, 62-58.

Auburn advanced despite not shooting the ball well at all - 5-of-24 from three-point range and 35% overall - and two of its top players being held in check. Point guard Jared Harper, who is top-30 nationally in assists, was held to just two in 18 minutes because of really early foul trouble, and Bryce Brown had just 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Harper came through when it mattered, though, drilling a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:18 left. It looked like Charleston's Grant Riller was fouled on the arm on a potential tying three with seven seconds to play, but the guard didn't get the call. Riller played all 40 minutes and scored 16 points, while Jarrell Brantley led all scorers with 24.

Mustapha Heron paced Auburn with 16 points.

Marquise Pointer's three with 3:10 to go was the last field goal of the day for the Cougars, who turned the ball over 21 times in their first NCAA appearance since 1998-99.



Other games watched:

(14) Bucknell vs. (3) Michigan State
Springfield (MA) vs. Nebraska Wesleyan (NE) - Division III semifinals
(16) UMBC vs. (1) Virginia - ** UMBC wins 74-54! First No. 16 seed to beat a 1 in the history of the tournament. The last 12 minutes were wonderful. **

Game 532 - Vanderbilt women at Auburn

February 12 at Auburn Arena in Auburn, AL
SEC Network

Auburn is one of the better teams in the country in forcing turnovers (fifth) and steals (second) and it showed on Monday as the visitors turned it over 24 times (10 Auburn steals) in a 63-60 victory.

Unique Thompson had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead three in double figures for Auburn, which shook off a tough shooting night (4-of-21 from three-point range and 35% overall).

Basketball phrases/nonsense

"instant offense"
"defensive stopper"
"attack with composure"
"dribble drives" - ! (8:30 left in second quarter)
"defensive personality"
"nice job by Vandy to pin their ears back and get in attack mode"
"she's a downhill player, she's got wheels, she's got jets"

Game 416 - Indiana State vs. Auburn

November 16 at TD Arena in Charleston, SC
[Charleston Classic quarterfinals]
ESPNU

Indiana State routed in-state rival Indiana in Bloomington in the season opener, but game two went decidedly different.

Auburn was quicker to the rim offensively and played excellent defense, holding the Sycamores to 30% shooting in an 83-64 victory.

ISU knocked down 17 three-pointers in the win over the Hoosiers last Saturday, but had just 17 field goals total and were 6-of-20 from behind the arc Thursday afternoon. Auburn got 14 and 12 from Desean Murray, 15 points from Bryce Brown and seven assists from point guard Jared Harper. Six players scored at least nine points for the Tigers, who are still playing without suspended players Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley.

Based on how they looked Thursday and the fact that I'm assuming two of their rotation players will eventually return from suspension, Auburn looks to be a contender in the Southeastern Conference.

Brenton Scott made life miserable for Indiana - 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three - but was a non-factor against Auburn (3 points, no made field goals). Jordan Barnes, who had 18 points in the opener, led the Sycamores with a game-high 19 points.

It should be a good one in the semifinals as Auburn takes on Temple, a 76-65 quarterfinal winner over Old Dominion.

Game 223 - Georgia State at Auburn

November 14 at Auburn Arena in Auburn, AL
SEC Network

Justin Seymour (20 points, 8-of-16 shooting) and Jeremy Hollowell (20 points, 6-of-14, four assists) showed up, but unfortunately no one else did for GSU in a 83-65 loss.

The rest of the team shot just 8-of-30 from the field and the Panthers turned the ball over 18 times. They still haven't defeated an SEC team since a 77-72 win over this same Auburn program in December, 2003 (eight consecutive losses against the conference).

Auburn freshman Jared Harper, who I've covered for a long time, was great in his second collegiate game, joining Danjel Purifoy with a team-high 19 points. Harper hit four of his six three-point attempts and added three steals.

The Tigers, 2-0 for the first time since 2011-2012, should be much improved after going 11-20 a year ago.

Game 56 - Auburn vs. Hawaii

December 25 at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, HI
ESPN

Auburn led by nine after Kareem Canty's 3-pointer about midway through the second half, but great work by Hawaii over the final nine minutes.

Sai Tummala followed almost immediately with a four-point play at the 9:15 mark, which seemed to get the Rainbows going as they closed the game on a 28-7 run and won 79-67 in the third-place game of the Diamond Head Classic.

* Roderick Bobbitt had a fantastic night for Hawaii, finishing with a game-high 30 points (22 in second half) on 8-of-13 shooting & 6-of-7 from three.

* Congratulations to new Scoochie Smith all star and freshman guard for Hawaii, Sheriff Drammeh.

Game 50 - Winthrop women at Auburn

December 16 at Auburn Arena in Auburn, AL
SEC Network

Auburn rolled to a 76-33 victory, forcing 35 turnovers and holding Winthrop to 23 percent (12-of-51) shooting.

Much prettier than the Winthrop stat sheet was the small, but memorable collection of basketball phrases from commentator Joe Ciampi:

"Run out(s)" - said six times
"Competitive spirit"
"Great ball movement, great people movement"
"Great basketball IQ"

And some things were happening IN SPACE:

"Guard in space" (5)
"Catching the ball in space" (1)