Big Game goes to Big Blue

What a basketball game.

Even Jeff Lebo thinks so. See ...

Auburn's 72-67 loss to Kentucky is exactly why I love college basketball. It had drama, an excellent crowd and some very, very talented players.

Kentucky stays perfect on the season, while Auburn falls to 9-9 and 0-3 in the SEC. But, the Tigers have some hope. They played the best second half they've ever played all season. If they can put a full game together like that, they just might be able to win some conference games.
Go figure!

Anyway, here's how my column for tomorrow's Opelika-Auburn News starts.

Enjoy.

So this is what a basketball school looks like.
Of course, Kentucky played a big part in that. So did its fans.
And no, they didn’t flock to the Plains to see Gene Chizik accept the Outback Bowl trophy, again.
No, all 11,669 fans who crammed into Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum were here to see the No. 2 Wildcats, freshman phenom John Wall and the hottest coach in college hoops, John Calipari. And maybe even Ashley Judd. Definitely Ashley Judd.
And nobody came away disappointed.
Well, except for maybe Calipari. He might want the movie star to stay home next time, because to him, every team plays Kentucky so much tougher when Judd’s in attendance.
“I don’t know if they’re playing for Ashley,” Calipari joked. “She comes and it’s like a dogfight.”
Well, that could have something to do with it. I hear DeWayne Reed loves “Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.”
It was probably that. Oh, and the fact that the Tigers showed up ready to play with a solid gameplan and the hunger to knock off the undefeated “NBA team,” as Lebo cracked.
“Wow,” Calipari said after the game. “I’ve always respected Jeff Lebo and the job he does, but what he did today to keep his team right there to win the game was incredible.”
Auburn showed up, fought and even had a chance to send the game into overtime. (Gasp!)
Yes, these Auburn Tigers – the 9-9 team that lost to Missouri State, Troy and Sam Houston State. Yes, them.
It was a long shot, just like Reed’s hoist from beyond NBA range. But it was a shot.
It didn’t matter that the Wildcats are the best team in the conference and the second-best team in the nation.
“We fear no one,” Auburn sophomore guard Frankie Sullivan said.
Except, maybe an empty gym.
“Our crowd was great. I wish we could have that …,” Lebo said as he trailed off. “I think that the crowd always gives you energy. The kids feel good about it, because they know they get that when they go every other place in our league.”
Something they don’t get at home.
But, man, when the game’s good and a sold-out crowd is into it, is there anything better than college basketball?
OK, sorry, college football. Always. Of course.
But, next to a fall Saturday? I don’t think so.
This Saturday in January, with a little more than 11 minutes to play during a timeout with Auburn trailing by 3, is exactly what Auburn paid $92.5 million for.
Then, when Sullivan’s 3-pointer tied it up at 60 with 8:19 to play after the Tigers trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half, you would have thought the roof to the 41-year-old coliseum was going to come crashing down.
If Auburn takes the lead on its next possession, they wouldn’t have to worry about tearing down Beard-Eaves, the noise from the crowd would have taken care of the demolition.
And that’s exactly the type of atmosphere Auburn officials want at the new arena, which opens next season.

(Photo credit: Cliff Williams | Opelika-Auburn News)