Written by Adrian Beechr
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Led by Bryce Brown’s 25 point performance, the Auburn Tigers dismantled the Kansas Jayhawks 89-75 to earn their spot in the Sweet 16 on Saturday evening.
Here’s how it all went down at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Auburn won the tip, but it was Kansas getting on the board first with a layup from David McCormack. The Tigers answered right back with a dunk from Anfernee McLemore to start a 7-0 run, which was capped by a triple from Jared Harper.
Kansas put a stop to the run with a jumper and one from McCormack to make it 7-5 with 16:45 left in the 1st half. Then the Tigers went on an 8-0 run highlighted by back-to-back triples from Bryce Brown, pushing their lead to 10.
The Tigers continued to put the pressure on and Brown stayed hot, hitting two more triples and a layup to extend the lead to 16 with 12:20 left in the half.
After a layup from Harper pushed the Tigers lead to 19 with 8:58 left in the half, 5 straight free throws for the Jayhawks would trim the lead back to 14. Then the Tigers got back to work, quickly pushing the lead to 20 with triples from Chuma Okeke and yet another from Brown.
Things didn’t get any better for Kansas, who went into the locker room trailing 51-25 to the Auburn Tigers. Brown led the charge for the Tigers with 17 points, shooting 5 of 6 from long range. Marcus Garrett led the way for Kansas with 7 points.
Out of the gate in the second half, Devon Dotson drained a triple for Kansas to cut the deficit to 23. However, the pressure from Auburn didn’t let up as they continued to keep their lead well intact.
Kansas was able to trim the lead to 18 points with 13:59 left to play in the game, bringing their fans back into it momentarily. However, a triple from Brown and a dunk from Austin Wiley would again push the Tigers lead back to 23. It was just the start of a 9-0 run to push the lead to 27 with 12:29 left on the clock.
Down the stretch, the disappointment could be seen coming from the Jayhawks bench and on the court from the players. But they kept clawing as hard as they could. With 3:53 left to play, they were able to cut the deficit to 16 on a layup from Mccormack.
Then with 2:04 left to play, two free throws from K.J. Lawson trimmed it down to 14. Then with 1:054 left to play they trimmed it to 13. But it was too little too late as the Tigers closed out the game, earning their ticket to Kansas City and the Sweet 16.
