4:45 p.m. Dan Greene is mid-press conference right now, so I’ll take over for him on blogging. Certainly a deflating loss for GW today. After shooting the cover off the ball in the first half, they give up 54 points in the second half and go cold — as so often happens — from beyond the arc. The game is certainly reminiscent of the Colonials’ loss two years ago to the University of Southern California when GW lost a 20-point lead in the second half, losing 74-65. GW’s deficit was just 22 points in the second half of that game, though — Auburn outscored them in the second period by 27 points this time.Â
Head coach Karl Hobbs and his players have talked a lot about a different mindset with this year’s team. It’ll be interesting to see if that mindset survives this tough loss — there’s a lot of basketball left to be played this year, and if the Colonials want to be successful, they’ll have to put this one behind them.
–Alex Byers
4:07 p.m. A remarkable turnaround in the second half gives us a final of 83-71 in favor of Auburn. The Tigers scored 54 after the break compared to GW’s 26. Check www.gwhatchet.com for a full update later and check back here for the post-game audio.
4:01 p.m. Auburn now with a commanding nine-point lead with about 1:30 to play. Hollis has fouled out.
3:53 p.m. Hollis hits a three to keep the lead at seven after the Tigers drained a big trey of their own. The Colonials have their work cut out for them down 72-65 with 2:20 to play. Auburn has the ball after the timeout.
3:51 p.m. Hollis picks up his fourth foul as Korvotney Barber goes for a fast break dunk. The ball ended up going off the backboard and in. Barber hit the free throw to make it a 69-62 lead for Auburn.
3:46 p.m. Tony Taylor has gotten his team back into it on the last two possessions, hitting a three and then draining a pair of foul shots. GW now trails 64-62 with 4:55 to play and their full-court press just forced the Tigers to use a timeout.
3:42 p.m. Lucas Hargrove with a pair of daggers puts Auburn in front 64-57 with 6:07 remaining. The first came on a deep three with the shot clock winding down, with the second being an emphatic dunk on a fast break off a missed three-pointer by Witherspoon. GW looks as flat now as they looked impressive in the first half.
3:35 p.m. Game knotted at 56 with 8:37 to play. With the score 54-54, Diggs and Hollis combined in a block that transitioned into a Taylor drive to score, but the Tigers just answered to re-tie the game as Brendon Knox scored over Witherspoon.
3:26 p.m. In what was one of the most tangible momentum shifts you will see, Auburn has cut the lead to 51-49 and completely energized those in attendance. The crowd started buzzing after the lead was cut to five, but a Frankie Sullivan three-pointer on the Tigers’ next possession really got the place going. This was playing like a neutral site game for the first half; now Auburn is enjoying its first home court advantage of the afternoon.
3:24 p.m. Diggs replaced by Opoku after picking up his fourth foul. That should make things even more difficult for the rest of the game on offense as the Colonials have not been able to do much from outside this half.
3:17 p.m. Tigers cut it to seven on a Lucas Hargrove three. The Colonials have just four points in the half’s first five minutes and are not getting the open looks they took advantage of so well in the first half.
3:13 p.m. And with that said, the Tigers boot a ball out of bounds on offense to take us to an official timeout. The Colonials lead 48-36 with just under 16 to play. The fans seem to be getting a bit restless after a series of calls/non-calls that have not gone their way, but none looked particularly egregious. GW has still not attempted a free-throw.
3:09 p.m. Different half so far as Auburn has cut the lead to 46-36. Lucas Hargrove just slammed a put-back over Diggs and Witherspoon and converted the traditional three-point play to boot.
3:04 p.m. It took about 10 shots for Auburn to make one during halftime warmups just now. That span included two balls hitting in mid-air. Not much is going their way today.
2:51 p.m. What a half of basketball by the Colonials, who lead 44-29 at the half. They are 10 of 17 from downtown yet have still outscored the Tigers 12-4 in the paint. Hollis leads all scorers with 13 while Wilmore has added 12 and King has nine. The scoring of the latter two has come entirely from three-pointers.
Just as surprising has GW’s three-point shooting has been their lack of free-throw shooting. That’s taking them, not making them. The Colonials have yet to go to the charity stripe but still lead by 15 at the half.
If you didn’t know which team was coming off a 9-17 season and which was from the power conference, you’d probably invert the identities based on the first half. GW looks more comfortable and confident on the court, draining threes and converting an alley-oop, while Auburn has squandered a few fast breaks and been sloppy with the ball.
It should be interesting to see how the second half transpires, as those outside shots have a tendency to stop falling eventually and GW may have to find another well to tap if they want to hold on to their lead.
2:38 p.m. GW is still holding on to its 10-point lead as they are in front 39-29 with 3:43 left in the half. Taylor got in on the three-point action and Wilmore hit his fourth in four attempts. The scouts seemed to notice.
Alexander has been relegated to the bench after picking up his third personal foul at the 6:18 mark. Freshman Aaron Ware is on the floor now, seeing his first action of the game.
2:29 p.m. What a shooting display from GW so far. They lead 33-23 with 7:45 until the break and have now converted on seven of their nine attempts from downtown. Wilmore is leading the way with three treys, King has added two, and Witherspoon and Hollis have each added one.
There was also a pretty nifty alley-oop from Hollis to Hermann Opoku a few minutes back.
2:21 p.m. Auburn up 20-17 now after the teams trade a pair of threes – Wilmore hit both of GW’s – and Auburn’s Johnnie Lett gets the crowd into it with a wide-open dunk. He appeared to get open after Diggs rotated off of him to the ball. When timeout was called, Hobbs immediately came onto the court and pointed at Diggs and then to the bench. He seemed pretty fired up.
2:13 p.m. Colonials enjoying a small 11-9 lead at the first break in the action with 15:33 to go in the half. They have looked relatively crisp on both ends of the floor, turning the Tigers over a number of times. Hollis made a pair of nice moves to the hoop for GW’s first two scores. On their last possession, he momentarily lost his handle on the wing, regained control, and then drained a jumper. He was just called for goaltending on the other end, however, as he blocked a shot near its apex.
One of the scouts could be overheard repeating “show me something” as Diggs got the ball in the post on an earlier possession. Diggs was then whistled for traveling.
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Greetings, loyal live blog readers, and a vicarious welcome to the Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Ala. for this afternoon’s clash between the Auburn Tigers and George Washington Colonials. Word is that most of the students have headed home for Thanksgiving already, so turnout today will be sparse. That’s how things are looking thus far as we’re inside of 10 minutes until the opening tip.
Game notes list the probable starting lineup for GW as Tony Taylor and Xavier Alexander at guard, joined by a trio of forwards in Rob Diggs, Wynton Witherspoon, and Damian Hollis. This has been the same lineup they’ve used in both previous regular season games.
Interesting gesture from Aubie, Auburn’s tiger mascot, during the national anthem. He held the tip of his tail in his right hand and extended it fully outward to his side. I am unfamiliar with both mascot and feline salute protocol, but it struck me as unusual.
There are a few NBA scouts in attendance from the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, and Miami Heat.