1 Day to Tip-Off - Bryce Brown

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

All good things must come to an end.... except in this case because Auburn Basketball begins TOMORROW!

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!

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