Auburn Recap

Well, thanks to the fine folks at SRO on FM1960 in Houston, we did actually get to see the game on Friday night. Fortunately they were able to find a back-end feed on their big satellite dish and had the game on.

I guess more than anything, not only am I surprised that they still have a big satellite dish, I'm surprised that the darn thing still works.

There was a small group of about 11 Aggies up there and we had a good time watching the game.

What we saw on Friday night was easily the Aggies most complete and dominating game of the 2006-2007 campaign as they destroyed a very good Auburn team 87-58.

The loss was Auburn's worst at home since 1952 and the worst ever in Beard-Eaves Coliseum (39 years).
It was one of those awesome nights where the good guys could do little wrong. This was one of those nights that showed the Aggies can play with and beat just about anyone in the country.
Yes, they looked that good......

......or as Beau Thompson so eloquently put it - - "Beating that a*s, making a statement."

I think that just about sums it up.

Through the first half, the Aggies held Auburn without a point for about an 6 minute stretch and took a 43-23 lead into the break and were never challenged in the second half.
5 players scored in double digits with Acie Law leading the way with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting.

Josh Carter (12 points) set the tone early by knocking down three quick 3-point buckets. What Josh did in making those early threes was force the Auburn defense to move further out on the perimeter creating more room to operate on the inside.

Law, Kirk, and Sloan made a living all-night by driving to the bucket for more than a handful of close range shots.

Dominique Kirk had a great all-around night scoring 10 points, pulling down 7 rebounds, creating 4 steals, and adding 3 assists.

Donald Sloan continues to get better-and-better with every game. The freshman had another very impressive game scoring 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting while adding 5 rebounds. Donald is so quick off the dribble and is at his best when he is going toward the basket.

I love seeing Sloan and Law on the floor at the same time. They, as a duo, have the ability to really cause some serious problems for opposing teams as they both can knock down a fair percentage of their shots from the outside, but both guys are at their best creating off of the dribble and going to the rim. This can make them very had to defend. The other advantage you gain with both guys out there together is that they can both bring the ball up the court against man-pressure.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention my main man Marlon Pompey. Marlon made another contribution on Friday night by adding 11 points and 6 rebounds. Marlon's highlight play came on a break away dunk where he was fouled and converted the 3 point play. His dunk was set up by an Acie Law steel on the other end of the floor.

Joe Jones was a non-factor as he only played 12 minutes and was in foul trouble most of the night. It was just more of the same with Joe, guarding with his hands and arms while swiping at people on the inside. When he swipes at his man on defense, what he is doing is nothing more than giving the officials a good excuse to call fouls on him, which they are doing with great regularity these days. Joe has picked up 4+ fouls in 5 of their last 8 games. Over his last 5 games, Joe is only averaging 11.2 points and 6.2 rebounds. This team will need for the big fella to step it up once conference play comes around.

Finally, Junior Elonu also played very good on Friday night. Elonu added 6 points on 3 of 3 shooting over 15 quality minutes. Junior also had a highlight reel dunk where there is a pretty good chance he may have actually been trying to break the rim.

This was a great win for the Aggies on the road and was a heck of a way to go into the Christmas break.

We'll see what happens with Auburn from here on out; time will tell just how big this win actually was. Hopefully Auburn will win quite a few games in the SEC and this will turn into a "quality win" in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee.

We will not be going to the Grambling game on the 28th as we'll be watching the Holiday Bowl in Houston. If it were anyone not as terrible as Grambling we may have tried to make the game, but Grambling is just horrible.

Our next game in person with be against Winthrop on January 2nd.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy spending time with family and friends.
-sb