Redhawks Give Tigers Last-Minute Scare, Fall Short in 91-85 NIT Loss
AUBURN, Ala. - In the final minutes of Seattle U’s matchup against Auburn, the Redhawks nearly sucked the life out of Neville Arena. Five straight baskets by the underdog almost secured a miraculous come from behind win in NIT action.
But Seattle needed the poise they played with late to weather the storm in the early going and it simply wasn’t there. Multiple runs by the Tigers put the Redhawks into a hole they could not fully climb out of, suffering a season-ending 91-85 loss in the second round of the NIT Sunday night.
With the game tied at 15 in the first half, Auburn went on a 19-5 sprint to blow the game open early. Multiple Redhawk turnovers led to baskets on the other end and Auburn fed off its rowdy home crowd. While Seattle struggled to find a rhythm offensively, Auburn established control inside that led to easy looks throughout the entire contest. The Tigers had a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint and shot 32 free throws compared to 11 by the Redhawks.
Auburn’s Sebastian Williams-Adams only played 19 minutes before fouling out, but still finished with 15 points on a perfect 6-6 from the field. He proved to be a handful for a Seattle frontcourt that struggled to match up with the star forward.
Austin Maurer and Houran Dan played 12 and 11 minutes each and only saw the court for a combined nine minutes in the second half. The Tigers offense attacked them on screens and on offense, they could not provide enough of a presence down low to warrant their inability to space the floor as shootings threats. Even though Seattle was losing the battle in the paint, Chris Victor still opted to rely on small ball lineups in the second half.
This adjustment allowed Seattle to space the ball more effectively, which opened the door for an unlikely comeback. Seattle connected on a season-high 16 three pointers as a team and to no surprise, Brayden Maldonado led the way. He had 25 points, five assists, four rebounds, and seven three-pointers made, willing the Redhawks back into the contest.
Will Heimbrodt benefited from the adjustment, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the second half. John Christofilis also started to heat up with 10 of his 13 points coming in the second half. These boosts resulted in Seattle scoring 54 points in the second half after only scoring 31 before the break.
While the adjustment proved to be a night and day difference on offense, the Redhawks still could not get enough stops on defense with a smaller lineup even more ripe to giving up easy baskets in the lane. The Redhawks usually rely on creating steals by playing passing lanes and sending extra bodies at post players, but could not cause enough havoc to force the turnovers needed to finish off the comeback.
Tigers penetrating into the lane opened up looks around the arc and the Auburn guards made the most of the space. Kevin Overton had 23 points on 7-13 shooting from the field and made four three pointers, while Elyjah Freeman had 19 points on 7-10 shooting and made four threes on only five attempts, providing enough cushion to withstand the Redhawks’ torrid run.
Auburn handled the pressure well, scoring 91 points, the second most Seattle has allowed all season. 10 turnovers by the Tigers also stands as the third lowest the Redhawks have forced. While Victor made the right adjustment late to get his team back in the game, the Redhawks needed a complete game to pull off the upset and simply made too many mistakes to overcome early on, ushering in the offseason earlier than hoped.
