1 Day to Tip-Off - Bryce Brown

Well ladies and gentlemen, it’s been quite the ride over these past 50 days. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has followed along throughout this series and I hope you guys have gotten some enjoyment out of it as we’ve counted down the days to Auburn Basketball! I also want to publicly thank Ryan Sterritt and Jack Condon for their help in writing a few of these countdown pieces as well. The football countdown we did on here inspired me to put a basketball countdown together and I’ve enjoyed learning more about Auburn Basketball and looking back on some fantastic memories. But after today, the number of days until Tip-Off will be ZERO.

(FWIW, I’ve actually already decided on what we’re going to countdown next year but that’s for the 2020 offseason) but we’ve got a whole season in front of us before then. Over the past 50 days, we have featured 11 former players and 2 current players, Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy.

Bryce Brown had the most appearances on the Countdown with 10, including today’s piece. K.T. Harrell had 9 games and Chris Denson had 8 games with 25 or more points over the past decade. So with that said, let’s put a bow on this series looking back at last year’s Auburn-Dayton game where Bryce Brown went BONKERS from downtown late in the 1st half on his way to a career high in points.

Total Points: 34

Date: December 8, 2018

Opponent: Dayton

Final Score: Auburn 82 Dayton 72

How fitting that Bryce Brown holds the highest scoring game by an Auburn player over the past 10 years?

Bryce was 10-18 from the field, 6-13 from 3-point range and 8-9 from the free throw line. Brown’s career night began by missing his first free throw attempt of the night. He would connect on the next one and the remaining 7 attempts that night. Bryce made his first basket with 15:14 to go, a layup, that got Auburn off to a 12-2 start against the Flyers. Auburn would get out to a 19-6 lead in this game but Dayton got within 4 with 6:44 left. Samir Doughty stole an inbounds pass, lobbed the ball over to Brown who ran in and threw down an angry one hand dunk. After Jared Harper made a 3 on the next possession, Bryce would get fouled on each of the next 2 possessions, one from 3, and made all 5 free throws.

But the signature moment of this game started around the 2:30 mark of the 1st half. With Auburn up 37-29, Bryce took the game over. His first 3 of the night, would come after some great unselfish passing and put Auburn ahead 40-29. As we saw throughout his Auburn career, when he made 1, look out opposing team.

After a Dayton turnover, the Flyers left Brown open just enough on the wing and Samir Doughty made the pass that set up his 2nd straight 3 and Auburn went up 43-29. Another turnover by Dayton happened on the next possession as Chuma got the ball to Jared who in one motion, leaped and through the ball across court to a wide open Brown who proceeded to nail his 3rd consecutive 3 to put Auburn up 46-29 with 1:12 left in the half. As Sonny Smith said “that’ll put your lights out right there, man.” Auburn Arena went nuts! Bryce would hit 1 more 3-pointer at the very end of the half as Brown raced up the court with time running out, stopped, and drained another 3 with a second left as Auburn went into the locker room up 51-32. Bryce had 22 of his 34 in the 1st half.

Dayton would start the 2nd half on a 7-2 run, but Bryce’s layup put back up 55-39 with 17:46 left. Dayton would cut it to 13 before Brown made his 5th 3 of the game, a wide open one in front of the Auburn bench to make it 58-42 with 16:13 left. Dayton went on a 10-0 run after that basket until Samir Doughty’s shot clock beating 3-pointer 3 minutes later slowed Dayton’s momentum. Bryce would hit his 6th 3 of the game with 12:24 to put Auburn back up by 10 points. 2 free throws with 11:36 put Auburn up 66-56. Those free throws gave Bryce a new career high and with that much time left, I thought a 40 point game was possible. Bryce’s final basket of the night came with 4 minutes to go, a jumper that made it 78-68. Auburn had a tough time putting Dayton away but were able to do so and get a 10 point win against the Flyers.

Tomorrow, we’ll have a basketball GAME to preview. That as well as my SEC Predictions and a look at Auburn’s road through the SEC. Once again, thank you all so much for following this series. It’s been a long 212 days but we’ve made it! War Eagle!