Pregame
Nice crowd appears to be filing in,
doesn’t seem as if it could be full, despite a sellout…. What a national anthem,
that young lady has some lungs….. Cough-cough, the smoke from the team tunnel
blocks out the light in the building, still a nice effect…. It appears Jaime Lloreda is ready to ball, limping a bit though… Regis Koundjia’s strained MCL
seems to have put him out for the game, he is standing midcourt in street
clothes during layups…. Holes are filling in the seats and horn to begin
introduction of the lineups, a late-arriving crowd… Jaime honored at halfcourt
for 500 career rebounds after pulling down at nine at Florida, big smiles and
hugs between Jaime and head coach John Brady… Watch out, flying newspaper from
the student section, OUCH!! That was my head!… Hey isn’t that coach Jimbo Fisher
courtside….. Light’s out, big cheers for the starting lineups…. MORE NEWSPAPER!!
1st
Half
LSU’s Xavier Whipple controls the
tip…. Oooohhh, ugly shot by Lloreda, brick!… Man, it looked like Antonio Hudson
just walked, Brandon Bass knocks down a 10-footer, LSU 2-0…. Nice defense…
Killinsworth steps out of bounds, turnover… Jaime turns it over… Auburn on the
board with a garbage buckets 2-2, 17:55…. Jaime obviously in some pain, laboring
a bit down the floor….17:26, Darnell Lazare in for Lloreda, trainer Drew Shea
tending to him… Nathan Watson with a nice soft three, AU 5-2, Watson was the one
who hit last minute trey last year to beat LSU on the Plains…. Tigers look out
of sync…. Killingsworth layup good, AU 7-2….Huge, clutch three from Darrel Mitchell, on his butt, but good… Nice defense Lazare, Ware Eagle turnover… First
media timeout, 15:47, Auburn up 7-5…. Jaime definitely not himself…. Hard foul
on Lloreda, makes one of two at the line, 8-6, Auburn…. Physical basket by
Lloreda inside, sowing a bit more mobility… Uh-oh, Auburn’s Robinson with a nice
three-pointer, 12-8, the other Tigers… Blown charging call on Lloreda, fans on
the refs badly, “Hey Ref, YOU S---, well, y’know”….. High-arching three by Antonio Hudson,
much needed for his confidence…. Another atrocious call, this time on defensive
end on Lazare, Auburn two free-bee’s, 16-11… Mitchell buckets a pair at the
stripe, three-point game 16-13… That’s goal tending!!!! Bucket good by Lloreda
off beauty of a lob from Tack Minor…. Killingsworth answers with 8-foot jumper,
18-15… Nice recovery by Lazare on the offensive glass, 18-17 with garbage
bucket…. HOLY COW the pass from Mitchell to Minor, a no looker, Minor fouled
hard, three shots…. One is in, tie game 18-18, the second is good, LSU’s first
lead, make it a two-point Tiger advantage with the third, 20-18, media timeout,
11:12…. Tigers go to the full court press, Hudson with the steal…. Lazare with
the soft touch, 22-18 “good guys”…. Minor beat to basket for layup by Ian Young,
22-20… Lloreda blocked inside, but gets rebound, will not be denied, fouled hard
by Kyle Davis, who disagrees.. Lloreda makes one of two, 23-20, 9:50… Bass in
for a limping Lloreda, Shea points to his foot asking if he is all right,
Lloreda shakes it off, meanwhile an athletic tip-in by Lazare, 25-21, 8:59…
Whipple in for Hudson, strange combination, Whipple, Minor and Mitchell all in
the game… Robinson from the top of the key, good, 25-23, 8:10… Lazare another
soft shot from the free-throw line, eight points… Hey, Cliff Ellis isn’t wearing
a cardigan sweater, someone needs to pick up his dry cleaning… Lazare met with a
3-of-1 and manages to block the shot, what got into him tonight, who knows, but
definitely taking up the slack for Lloreda…. Media timeout, 7:15, LSU 27-25…
That’s chancellor Mark Emmert, the LSU student section breaks into a chant for
him, he acknowledges with a smile…. Minor with a missed three in transition, but
nice steal by Hudson… Lloreda misses a long shot, What? Did he just shoot from
three…. Lloreda goes in after lob from Minor, Davis swats it away into the front
row… Hudson just shot that one from the parking lot, Dong!… Robinson ties the
game with a layup 27-27…. Auburn running with numbers, Brown with a rebound-dunk
giving AU a 29-27 lead…. Lloreda with a heck of a physical rebound inside, runs
the break dishing off to Minor, Lloreda going all out, no-pain, no-gain….
Timeout, 3:48, Auburn 29-27… Hudson trapped in the corner on the inbound pass,
calls timeout, but ref blows call saying he stepped out of bounds…..
Killingsworth takes Bass to the hole, Auburn playing good ball tonight, AU
31-27… Obvious traveling violation by Lewis Monroe, another bonehead call by the
ref, a foul on Minor… Five minutes since LSU scored a bucket, 2:40… Long three
by Robinson, now a 33-27 lead for War Eagle… Lloreda throws down a dish from
Whipple, breaks scoreless drought, now 33-29…. This is definitely a lot faster
than LSU is used too… Fans on refs on virtually every call, questionable out of
bounds call goes against Tigers… Hudson tackled in front of Auburn bench, foul
right? Nope, jump ball! Ridiculous!!!…. Under 1:30 left to go, AU 33-29… Hudson
drains the runner, ooohhhh, he almost steals the inbounds pass, Ellis calls a
quick timeout, bad guys lead by one, 33-31, 1:06…. Brown’s three goes in and
out, Lloreda gets the board, but mugged in the process, of course, no call at
all… Bass two-handed dunk, bings crowd to their feet, Bass and Lloreda obviously
miffed with contact and no calls… Five-second violation goes against AU, L-S-U
from the crowd, really pumped up… great atmosphere…. It’s the half, all tied up
33-33.
Halftime:
Stale cookies, watered down soft
drinks in the media room… Hey-hey, how bout those Tiger Girls!… Some guy makes
10 layups to win $250 and a trip to the Academy of Country Music Awards, that
was after answering a series of questions including when was the last time LSU
made it to the NCAA Tournament?…. At the half, though, scored tied 33-33, LSU
has shot 41-percent from the floor, compared to 46 by the visiting Tigers… Each
team has turned it over seven times each, while Auburn has out-rebounded LSU
18-16…. Lloreda and Lazare each lead LSU with eight points each…. The team has
re-taken the floor, Lloreda nowhere to be found, still in the locker room as
team shoots around…. Brady steps to the bench, still no Lloreda…. There’s the
horn for the second half and the SEC’s leading rebounder is still in the locker
room.
2nd
Half
Mitchell opens the second half with
a bricked three-point attempt…. Killingsworth breaks the ice in the paint with a
layup, obviously taking advantage of no Lloreda, 37-35 AU…. Lloreda limps out of
the locker room just as Mitchell misses an acrobatic layup with numbers, 18:42….
What’s up, it’s Barrington Edwards…. Lloreda checks into the game, 17:53….
Whipple garbs the loose ball with numbers, does not shoot, but wait, Hudson does
and it’s GOOD, LSU 36-35… Monster blocked shot by Bass, Whipple saves it out of
bounds to Mitchell who is pushed to the ground on the other end….Here comes the
GEAUX-TIGERS chant, this place is rocking…. Bass with a 16-footer over
outstretched arms, SWEET, 38-35…. Offensive foul on Quinnel Brown, momentum
seems to be shifting, Tigers need another bucket, Lloreda with the soft touch
inside, it’s a 5-point LSU lead, 40-35…. Air ball by Auburn, but Brown grabs it
and tosses it for a garbage bucket, Brady disgusted…. Nice flop Mitchell,
charging foul on Brown, his third, Mitchell just won an OSCAR with that one,
official timeout, LSU 40-37… Oh yeah, the Kent-Lowe cheer from the students, a
humble wave to the masses from LSU’s hoops SID… Attendance figures are in, not
exactly packed, but decent, paid crowd of 12,543, actual showing of 11,024….
Coming out of timeout, Minor nails a downtown trey, LSU 43-37…. Robinson
silences crowd with a jumper from the charity stripe, 43-39…. Bass finger roll
good, Goodness Gracious!!! How was that not a foul? Bass nearly landed on his
head, 45-39…. Mitchell has one of the quickest first steps in the nation…..
Young drains a three-bomb, gets it to one, LSU up 45-44…. Hudson turns the ball
over on a dribble mishandling, media timeout 11:50 with Tigers on top 45-44….
Auburn back on top, Robinson grabs a lob at the highest point and drifts it in,
45-46…. Lloreda answers, running the floor for a streaking layup, 47-46…. Young
buries another layup, Auburn is not supposed to be this good, War Eagle on top
49-47… It’s two more with a Young layup, 51-47… Crowd trying to get back in it,
but definitely a lull for Tigers…. Lloreda draws the foul but no call as he
misses the layup, it’s okay, Auburn turns it over on the other end… LSU needs a
basket, Minor misses from long range….. It’s 51-47, Auburn, 9:22 left to play….
Killingsworth buries a three-pointer, not good for home team, a 10-2 run by
Auburn, 54-47 at the 9:15 mark, timeout LSU, a much needed one….. Charging call
on Mitchell under the goal, not a good time for that call…. That had to be
goal-tending on Auburn, Lloreda disputes, but ref ignores him, it’s AU by nine,
56-47….. Killingsworth misses a dunk, but LSU can’t make a shot…. Watson buries
another three, not a 12-point deficit, 59-47…. LSU has to find some offense and
soon or it is curtains…. At the 7:10 mark, Auburn leads 59-47…. Blown play on
the inbounds, Robinson steals and makes an uncontested acrobatic dunk, it’s 14
now, Auburn 61-47…. Lloreda is out of it, he cannot move, hardly making an
effort for a rebound… Tigers have to score… Lloreda is on the ground writhing in
pain, in the meantime, the “PMAC Faithful” (yeah right) is beginning its’
convergence on the exits…. At the 6:05 mark, LSU has not scored since 11:17,
over five minutes… Students letting abandoning fans have it, not a pretty site…
Bass called for goal tending, now 65-47 Auburn with 5:40 to play….how quickly
things can go bad… Killingsworth for two more, it’s 20 now, 67-47…. Holy cow,
it’s like cockroaches when the lights come on, the fans are scampering to the
exits, trying to get home to see the end of the “OC”… POINTS!!!! Hudson on the
finger roll, 67-49…. Killingsworth nails a dagger-three, 70-49… This looks like
a lost cause, crowd yelling for Tigers to shoot, another turnover… This is not
what the team needed at this point, finally ranked and a loss that looks like it
is going to be 20 or more, it is like the air just got sucked out of this
place….. Final official timeout, it’s Auburn up 19, 70-51…. Wasn’t this is the
last place team in the SEC West? Auburn was 12-9 and 3-7 in the league coming
in…. This just in, Auburn has just concluded a 31-6 run… Finally a fast break
opportunity, Mitchell dishes to Minor, who doesn’t see it coming, turnover….
Killingsworth killing LSU, literally, another bucket, 72-54…. Mitchell drains a
three, it’s 72-57, some signs of life, but this looks like too little too late,
1:51 left to play….. Whipple drives the lane, is hacked and makes the bucket,
72-59, 1:17, AND 1, 72-60… Time to foul and no fouls, waste of 15 seconds….
Brady screams to foul, finally Minor hacks someone, but with 49 seconds left,
Young to line and makes them both, 74-60…. Tigers cannot convert sending Auburn
back to the line…. The final hangers-on in the crowd are headed out…. Brady can
only sit and watch as Young deposits both free throws… Minor hit a three from
somewhere near Nebraska, 76-63, too bad that didn’t happen six minutes ago….
Fans riding Killingsworth, he answers with some little dance behind the
officials, they hate him even more…. Minor just banked a three-pointer in from
the corner, 78-66.. A quick foul sends Young back to the line… Just heard the
dumbest thing from the students just behind us, “Where’s Chris Porter?” That was
bad, real bad, and makes no sense….. Young makes both free throws after a
timeout… Lazare knocks home a layup at the buzzer, but the final is 80-68… Too
bad, another two points and fans could have got free chicken fingers for LSU
scoring 70 in the Raising Canes challenge…. Oh well, it’s a final and this place
is like a morgue…. Too bad for Brady and his bunch, it was an ill-timed
loss.