Clemson ravages Auburn, historic season ends with worst loss of season

Auburn's magical and historic season will not continue past the second round of the NCAA Tournament because of the month-long disappearing act of its three star players.

For the seventh time in nine games, Auburn shot below 40 percent from the field  - way below.

Keep going.

Little bit lower.

Not quite there.

Yep, that far below 40 percent.

Behind atrocious performances from Jared Harper (2 of 12), Bryce Brown (4 of 13, 12 points) and Mustapha Heron (3 of 10, 12 points), No. 4 seed Auburn turned in its worst shooting night in over two years, making just 17 of 66 (25.8 percent) in a 84-53 massacre at the hands of No. 5 Clemson at Viejas Arena in San Diego on Sunday.

The score, which was as lopsided as 41 midway through the second half, Auburn's worst defeat since a 38-point loss to Tennessee in the 2016 SEC Tournament.

In was also the worst shooting performance for Auburn (26-8) in its 22-game history of NCAA Tournament appearances.

Auburn (26-8) tied the game at 13, then the wheels fell off in epic fashion.

After Harper (2 for 11) made a jumper with 10:33 to go in the first half, Auburn didn't made another shot from the field before halftime, missing its last 18 shots, to finish the half 6 for 33 (18.2 percent). The last time Auburn shot below 20 percent in a half was Nov. 17, 2014 at Colorado, Bruce Pearl's second game leading the program.

During that same span, Clemson (25-9) happily blew open the game and punched its ticket to the Sweet 16, using a 25-4 run to take a 43-19 lead at the half.

It was the first time Auburn scored less than 20 points in a half since scoring 19 against Vanderbilt on Jan. 6, 2015.

Gabe DeVoe scored 22 points, Elijah Thomas had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Marcquise Reed had 16 points and seven rebounds and Shelton Mitchell added 10 points, six rebounds and six assists for Clemson, which advances to face No. 1 seed Clemson in the Sweet 16 in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday.

Horace Spencer had 10 points and nine rebounds and Davion Mitchell and Malik Dunbar helped Auburn stop the bleeding, but the rest of the starting lineup ended their season with a dud.

AL.com will update this story.

James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.

from Auburn Sports Impact http://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/index.ssf/2018/03/clemson_ravages_auburn_histori.html