Early look at Tiger basketball 2023-24

Auburn basketball’s Johni Broome (No. 4), Tre Donaldson (No. 3) and KD Johnson (No. 0) celebrate against Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 

BY WIL CREWS

SPORTSCREWS@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM

AUBURN —

 The Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team shot 19-of-36 (52.8%) on free throws and crashed out of the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an 81-64 loss to No.1-seeded Houston last weekend. 

The loss comes after Auburn had defeated No. 9-seed Iowa, 83-75, in the first round, and held a 41-31 lead over Houston at halftime of the second-round matchup. 

Outscored 40-23 in the second half, the Tigers shot just 4-of-24 on field goals and went more than 10-and-a-half minutes without making a basket in the final period. As mentioned before, however, the Tigers’ ultimate downfall came at the charity stripe — the free throw line. 

… Anyone who has ever played basketball has heard someone say, “They call them free for a reason,” when referring to free throws. And Auburn, which left 17 possible points at the stripe against Houston, will be remembering that age-old adage for the days, weeks and months to come.

It is all the more painful because at halftime of Saturday’s game against Houston, the Tigers looked primed to pull off the upset. Things swung even more in the favor of the orange-and-blue when Houston’s two best players, First Team All-American Marcus Sasser and junior point guard Jamal Shead, were sidelined for much of the second half due to foul trouble. But it was during this time that the Cougars managed to flip the script entirely. 

Junior Houston guard Tramon Mark stepped up in the minutes without Sasser and Shead to the tune of a career-high 26 points. Most of those points came in the final 20 minutes — the same time that junior Auburn center Johni Broome missed a plethora of his free throw attempts (Broome went 6-16 from the charity stripe in total). Broome and senior forward Jaylin Williams still finished tied to Auburn’s team lead in points with 14 apiece, however.

 In the second half, if the Cougars weren’t hacking the Auburn bigs — which resulted in more bad than good for Auburn considering its struggles from the free throw line — they were deterring every other shot with their 12 blocks for the game. Ultimately, the Cougars scored the game’s final nine points as Auburn limped out of postseason play.

 In the big-picture view of the game, the Tigers wrapped up an inconsistent season in an appropriate manner. Similar to trends from game-to-game — and even within games — this season, the Tigers failed to play a complete contest and went from unabashed to sheepish all within 40 minutes. 

Still, the season for Auburn cannot be considered a failure. Programs cannot take for granted what it means just to clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament, much less win a game. It’s something Auburn fans should know all too well, having made just 12 ever appearances in “The Big Dance,” and missing out on the tournament altogether for a recent stretch between 2004-2017.  

Nonetheless, the manner in which the Tigers exited this year’s tournament will leave a nasty taste in the mouths of all who covet Auburn’s success. Eyes are already turning to next season — and what the 2023-24 iteration of Auburn basketball will look like is a looming mystery. So, let’s take a look.

 The singular contributing player from this season’s Auburn basketball team that is guaranteed to be gone from next year’s roster is senior Zep Jasper. The 25-year-old has been a mainstay in the Auburn starting lineup the past two seasons, despite providing little in terms of offensive production. His spot is the first area that can be addressed to add quality to the Tigers in 2023-24. To fill Jasper’s minutes, the Tigers might only have to look within. K.D. Johnson — who started for Auburn in 2021-22 before being moved to a sixth man role in 2022-23 — could provide the energy and defensive presence that is lost with the departure of Jasper, and in turn provide an offensive boost (albeit an inconsistent one) to the Tigers next season. Freshman guard Chance Westry — who was limited nearly all of this season due to injury — could, in an ideal world, fill that spot as well.

 Then there is the question of who returns at other positions. Both Williams and forward Allen Flanigan are seniors but could return with their extra COVID eligibility year stashed in their back pockets. Bruce Pearl and his staff would surely welcome both of these student-athletes back with Flanigan’s father maintaining a role on Pearl’s bench and Williams being a key leader for the Tigers the past two seasons. However, Auburn does have to imagine a world without these two — both of whom have contributed greatly to the success of the program the past four years. 

Other key upperclassmen contributors who could return next year include Broome (rising senior, center), Wendell Green Jr. (rising senior, point guard), Dylan Cardwell (rising senior, center) and Chris Moore (rising senior, forward). If they do come back, Broome and Green would presumably maintain their starting status, and Cardwell and Moore would likely remain key, backup rotational pieces. Senior center Babatunde “Stretch” Akingbola is another scholarship player who played little to no role in this season’s campaign that is on questionable to return. 

However, this may cause problems — especially in the case of Green — when it comes to the playtime (or lack thereof) for underclassman Tre Donaldson (rising sophomore, guard) and incoming freshman Aiden Holloway (a four-star point guard, top-25 player in the class in the class of 2023 and the gem of Pearl’s next recruiting class). 

The Green fatigue is real as the 6-foot playmaker has struggled in crunch time scenarios where the game is on the line. Donaldson, who broke out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Iowa, and Holloway, the program’s fifth highest-rated recruit of all time, will enter 2023-24 expecting to play a large role in the campaign. Tigers fans and Pearl alike may be looking for a change when it comes to which playmakers are on the floor and have the ball in the key moments of contests.  

Additionally, currently rostered players like Yohan Traore (2023 five-star recruit and the program’s third highest recruit ever) and Lior Berman (a senior with his COVID eligibility year still available) could return and expect a similar, if not increased role next season. Senior center Babatunde “Stretch” Akingbola, another player who takes up a scholarship position, is questionable to return in 2023-24 and played little to no role in this season’s campaign.

 The seemingly unlocked potential of this year’s three highly rated freshmen recruits — Troare, Westry and Donaldson — will be a key aspect to unravelling what Auburn will look like next year. Pearl and his staff have a difficult task in front of them when it comes to who to prioritize — the stalwart upperclassmen or the beaming-with-potential young guys. Not to mention, the Tigers may yet secure commitments for next season from other late-committing freshmen or through the transfer portal (how Broome, Johnson, Green and Jasper arrived on The Plains). 

The Tigers this year were elite at defense but at times unwatchable on offense. Pearl’s biggest priority heading into next season should be to add wing scoring and athleticism. Regardless of who is on the squad next year, however, it’s clear the Tigers will focus on at least one thing this offseason: free throws.