BY NOAH GRIFFIN
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — The Auburn wheelchair basketball program hit its stride over the weekend, finishing a perfect 3–0 at its home tournament with a dramatic victory over Alabama followed by two dominant wins against Missouri.
After losing several heartbreakers by single digits to Alabama in previous years, the Tigers seem to be catching up to the Crimson Tide. Auburn has beaten Alabama twice in four matchups this season, and the latest was a gutsy, 64-62 victory in front of hundreds of fans on Friday, Feb. 6.
Under head coach Robb Taylor, Auburn improved to 17-6 on the season, including a 10-0 record since the beginning of 2026.
“There’s just a different focus and a different drive within the program this year than we’ve had in previous years,” Taylor said. “Being able to get that win in front of the large crowd of both Auburn and Alabama fans was huge. It’s the step in the right direction that our program needed.”
The Tide led 59-58 late in the fourth quarter in a back-and-forth affair in which the Tigers held a four-point halftime advantage. When Auburn was forced to foul and send Alabama to the free-throw line with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game, it seemed as if Auburn’s chances were slipping away.
Nonetheless, a missed free throw by Alabama and a quick two-point bucket from Auburn kept the Tide’s lead at two with under 20 seconds remaining. A key defensive stop meant Auburn got the ball, down 62-60, with under 10 seconds on the clock.
That’s when Auburn put the ball in the hands of sharpshooting junior Jude Hiley, and the crowd held its breath – fans on the edge of their seats. In the team huddle, Taylor told Hiley he had a read to make – if the outside shot was open, he could take it, but the goal was to drive in for the two if he wasn’t open from outside. Since Auburn was only down by two, a two-pointer would’ve tied the game.
“Coach said I had the yellow light on that one… Well, I am colorblind,” Hiley said after the game. “The primary read was to work the clock and then get a two, but I saw the three and just put it up.”
With 16.3 seconds remaining, Hiley’s 3-pointer hit nothing-but-net to put Auburn up by one and send the crowd inside Beard-Eaves Coliseum into a frenzy.
But the job wasn’t finished. On the other end, the defense sealed the deal by getting stops on two separate occasions. After Auburn forced a turnover on an errant pass from Alabama that went out of bounds, Auburn was fouled quickly and went 1-for-2 on free throws to go up 62-60.
Up by two with 2.9 seconds remaining, Alabama put up a last-second two-pointer to force overtime. The ball bounced off the side of the rim, and the Auburn faithful celebrated victoriously.
“Yeah, he turned the yellow light into a green light, and it was one of the best green lights I had ever seen in my life,” Taylor said of Hiley’s go-ahead three. “Then props to the rest of the team after that for making two defensive stands on in-bound plays to keep Alabama from getting a good look.”
Taylor also complemented his team for playing with discipline down the stretch while under heavy foul trouble. The program’s all-time leading scorer – senior Jake Eastwood – had to sub out of the game in the fourth quarter with four fouls, and key veterans Jay Denning and Adam Smith also had four fouls.
Even so, the team’s depth and young talent shone brightly behind Hiley’s team-leading performance in which he racked up 21 points and nine assists. Freshman Drew Beutel scored 12 points against Alabama, complementing 14 from Smith. Freshman Gavin Peterson also came in and delivered a pair of assists in addition to four assists from Beutel.
“We have so much depth that it’s like, pick out of a hat and see whose night it is,” Hiley said. “Other games, it’s been Evan Heller, others it’s been Jake [Eastwood]. I guess it was my night tonight.”
Outside of the win over Alabama, Auburn also defeated Missouri twice in a row, winning 87-38 on Friday night and 68-36 on Saturday morning. Several other scorers on the team took the spotlight in those games, with Beutel dropping 50 points in those games combined, Heller tallying 46 combined points along with 10 assists by Eastwood.
The Tigers’ undefeated weekend followed up a 4-0 slate at a tournament in Missouri the prior weekend. Auburn ended that tournament with a season-high scoring performance in a 110-60 win over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, providing them with a spark coming into the home tournament last weekend.
“After Christmas break, we came back and really came together as a team,” said junior Ben Edwards. “Last tournament we beat SMSU and Missouri, and then when we beat [UW-Whitewater] and scored 110 points, I think that momentum carried into this tournament and really helped us click as a team.”
Auburn will look to stay hot going into a tournament at the University of Illinois next weekend. In Champaign, Illinois, Auburn will rematch UW-Whitewater and Illinois in addition to facing the University of Michigan for the first time ever.
The following weekend, Auburn will trek to Tuscaloosa for a tournament, and then the Tigers will wrap up the regular season with a home tournament March 6-7. That leads to their National Tournament in Tucson, Arizona April 1-4 to see who takes home the national championship.
“I feel like when we’re clicking, we’re the best team in the country,” Hiley said. “With this team, you don’t have to be so worried about how you play because someone behind you is going to pick you up.”
Auburn is looking to build on a fifth-place finish at Nationals last season. Arizona is the reigning champion, and they defeated the University of Texas-Arlington in the title game.
