Legacy Arena in Birmingham was rocking, the hometown crowd deafening as Auburn headed into the locker room at halftime with a 10-point lead over No. 1-seed Houston. Unfortunately for Auburn and their fans, that lead evaporated in the second half thanks to an absolutely brutal shooting performance.
The Tigers hit just four of 22 field goal attempts in the second half against the top-seeded Cougars, a stat line Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said was unexpected for his squad.
“We didn’t execute, which is not typical,” Pearl said. “Typical in the second half, with the offense in front of our bench, we typically have put up great offensive numbers. So give Houston credit for the way they guarded and their physicality.”
Going 4-of-22 from the field is pretty brutal but adding insult to injury was Auburn’s performance at the free throw line, where the Tigers finished 19-of-36 for the game. The missed free throws drew plenty of pained groans from the Auburn-heavy crowd in Birmingham.
“All it is, is free throws are just concentration,” said Auburn’s Jaylin Williams after the game. “You could be tired, but you have ten seconds to shoot a free throw. That’s on all of us. I missed one, a few guys missed a few. We make our free throws, we’re battling to win the game.”
Meanwhile, Houston was a perfect 18-for-18 from the free throw line in the second half, salting away Auburn’s lead and ultimately advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.
