2021 Auburn Tigers Basketball Season Recap
Basketball season recap used in the Auburn University yearbook The Glomerata
The Men’s Basketball team started their 2021 season off with an exhibition game against Southern Indiana, winning big 68-54. With a slow start, the Tigers were able to rally and make a comeback to end the game with a 22-0 run score. With the exhibition win under their belt, the team kept the winning streak up, winning the next three games. Morehead state (77-54), ULM (93-65) and USF (58-52) made the Tigers 4-0 headed into the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
The first game of the tournament was fought hard against UConn, but the team suffered a loss 109-115 in double overtime. “You go to tournaments to play games like this,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. Coming back from this tough loss, the team won against Loyola Chicago (62-53) and Syracuse (89-68). Freshman Jabari Smith talked about their success while playing in Atlantis, saying, "Mentally I feel like we're in a good place…We feel like we should've won three games, but we came here to win two and we did that.”
The Tigers kept the winning streak going, remaining undefeated in 2021. Coming back to play at home, they took on UCF with the final score of 85-68. Just like in past games, the team wore down their opponent on the court, allowing them to outscored UCF by 14 points in the second half. Turning right around, the Tigers beat Yale at home 86-64. Junior Devan Cambridge recorded his second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, matching his career high. "It means a lot," Cambridge said. "That's my main focus this year – rebounding as a guard. I was very excited and happy to be able to rebound with those physical guys today."
In the last game of 2021, the Tigers faced their first SEC opponent LSU. Auburn held LSU to a 28.6% shooting and 20.7% (6-for-29) on 3-point attempts. Ending the game 70-55, the Tigers handed LSU their first defeat of the season. Sophomore Walker Kessler blocked for a career high of 11 shots and a triple double. Coach Pearl expressed his excitement to the start of SEC play, "It's a nice home win. We did what we were supposed to do. Really good effort and a great start to the SEC season."
Headed into 2022, Auburn kept the winning streak up with wins against South Carolina (81-66) and Florida (85-73). The Tigers faced Alabama in Tuscaloosa, going in to win their 12th straight game and improving to 4-0 in the SEC. “You win at Alabama, you make history,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl.
The Kentucky game marked a historic time in Auburn Basketball history. Students carried tents, sleeping bags and heaters to set up camp outside the arena and make sure they got a seat. The team members even came to visit the night before the game and show their support. The camp was named ‘Pearlsville’ in honor of coach Bruce Pearl. With support from the students, the Tigers were able to defeat the blue blood 80-71. After this game, Auburn moved up in the AP poll to number one for the first time in school history.
In the Big 12 SEC matchup, Auburn faced Oklahoma at home. The Tigers pulled out the win 86-68 with Smith earning his fourth double-double of the season. Both Smith and Kessler combined for 44 points and 21 rebounds to lead the team to their 40th consecutive non-conference home victory.
Following the Big 12 matchup, the Tigers defeated Alabama at home 100-81. A hard-fought victory was won in Athens against the Georgie Bulldogs 74-72. "To come in here and get a road win when we had at least three or four guys have what you would consider an off night is pretty good," said Pearl. The first conference loss was against Arkansas (76-80), but the team bounced back to defeat Texas A&M (75-58).
With the overall record of 23-2 (11-1) and a 13-game winning streak in Auburn Arena, the team holds excitement for the rest of the season and March Madness.