Auburn vs. Oklahoma State: Exhibition Thriller Recap

No disrespect to Hibbett, but this game belonged on national television. This might have been the greatest college basketball game ever played on October 15th.

There was plenty to like and plenty to fix for the Tigers. Auburn took a loss in Boutwell Auditorium but every college basketball fan won tonight. Before you overreact, Auburn and Bruce Pearl lost to Barry University in their first exhibition game back in 2017–18 and went on to win the SEC that same year.

Quick Notes

1. Auburn played fast and loose. Not many set plays or screens, just a lot of gunslinging and poor shot selection.
2. The absence of Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell was obvious. Auburn lacks the size advantage it had last season and struggled with rim protection. Who’s going to guard the Isaiah Colemans of the SEC?
3. Freshman Sebastian Williams-Adams looked impressive. He's physical on both ends and not afraid of contact.
4. Elyjah Freeman looked smooth and confident. His shot is clean, and he should only improve as he adjusts from D-II to D-I competition.
5. Keyshawn Hall is going to get up the most shots on this team. Get him the ball and get out of the way.
6. Defense was active, but very handsy.
7. Free throw shooting was poor across the board. It's tough to lose when shooting 20 more FTs than the opponent.
8. Anthony Roy (OSU) playing for 42 minutes in an exhibition game is wild.
9. Team competed hard for Steven Pearl, even in an exhibition.
10. KeShawn Murphy plays defense like a brick wall and losing him hurts. No update on the severity of his injury.

All in for Steven Pearl

Any concerns about this team wanting to play for Steven Pearl should be put to rest. We looked exactly like a team that is only returning one player, raw, but bought in. This team played as hard as possible in a game that technically doesn't matter.

Pearl wasn't exaggerating on how far off the defense is, though. And to his credit, he showed more accountability in a postgame exhibition interview than Hugh Freeze has shown all season:

“We’ve got to do a better job of drilling and giving more help defensively. But also, like, when they had ball screens, we should’ve been blitzing those ball screens every time, and we didn’t,” Pearl said. So, that’s 100% on me and on the staff. We didn’t have our guys prepared defensively to come out here and execute."

Standouts

Keyshawn Hall
Keyshawn draws a lot of fouls. He ranked second in the Big 12 last year, drawing 6.7 fouls per 40 minutes and he carried that over tonight. No team is going to enjoy facing Auburn with Hall on the floor. He took 14 free throws in just 26 minutes and looked nearly unstoppable attacking the paint. If he's fouled driving inside, odds are it will result in a three-point play.

Sebastian Williams-Adams
The hype that surrounded Kevin Magwood probably should've gone to Sebastian Williams-Adams. He looked like a difference maker on both ends of the court, showing Chaney Johnson-level effort. Buy his stock now.
Hot take: Sebastian Williams-Adams has one-and-done potential.

Elyjah Freeman
Shaky in the first half but settled in during the second. He has an incredibly smooth shot and appears to have adapted to D-I quickly. Elyjah has a high ceiling and is only a sophomore. With time to develop, he can become a star. I asked the question back in August if Elyjah Freeman can be another division II win for Auburn, and so far the answer is a resounding yes. That euro step could've reached Opelika from Birmingham.

Kevin Overton
Not surprising that he's a good player, but I am surprised at his uptick in offensive production. A proven winner from Texas Tech's Elite Eight run, he's a key defensive piece who could be starting to round out his offensive game too.

Team Stats

Player Stats

*Denotes starter