Auburn’s players walked off the court at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Thursday afternoon with their shoulders slumped and heads down, meandering back toward their locker room in the depths of the building.
The fifth-seeded Tigers didn’t exhibit the demeanor of a team that just advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament; they had the look of a team sent packing — one that let a golden opportunity slip through its grasps during a chaotic final 65 seconds in Salt Lake City.
The scoreboard said otherwise: Auburn 78, New Mexico State 77.
A team that has thrived on chaos all season, Auburn avoided a late-game meltdown at the onset of March Madness. After leading by as many as 13 points in the second half, the Tigers staved off the upset-minded Aggies in a chaotic final few minutes of the teams’ opening -round matchup in the tournament’s Midwest Region.
The Tigers committed three turnovers in the game’s final 65 second and withstood a barrage of late-game 3-pointers from the Aggies but did enough to hold off the feisty 12-seed out of the Western Athletic Conference thanks to a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Auburn led by seven with 1:05 to play, but the Tigers nearly buckled under the pressure of the big stage against a team that resembled their playing style in a number of ways. Auburn committed three late turnovers that helped keep New Mexico State within striking distance, while both Jared Harper and Horace Spencer fouled out in the final 45 seconds.
NCAA Tournament: Rewinding Auburn’s 78-77 win against New Mexico State
Live updates from Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City as fifth-seeded Auburn and 12th-seeded New Mexico State play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
A 6-0 run drew New Mexico State within one with 28 seconds to play. Auburn answered with a pair of free throws from Chuma Okeke. The Aggies then cut it to two, before J’Von McCormick made it a four-point lead with two free throws of his own.
Jojo Zamora hit a 3-pointer with 6.9 second left to make it a one-point game, and then Samir Doughty split a pair of free throws that gave the Aggies a chance for the win in the closing seconds. Bryce Brown fouled Terrell Brown on a 3-point attempt with 1.1 seconds to play, but New Mexico State made just one of the three free throws.
The ball went out of bounds off Auburn, giving New Mexico State one last shot at the upset. The Aggies got a clean look in the corner from Trevelin Queen, but his shot missed long as Auburn survived and advanced.
AL.com will update this post.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/2019/03/auburn-survives-chaotic-final-minutes-vs-new-mexico-state-advances.html
2019-03-21 20:01:00Z
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