Bruce Pearl's teams always have a knack for creating memories for their fanbase by way of their standout personalities and ability on the court.
The final few games of this season were sure to bring a handful more of those, but unfortunately, everything was cut short when the coronavirus hit the United States. So, if anything, Auburn fans are now replaying those memories either in their minds or on a screen as much as possible.
So we asked, and you answered. Here are your favorite memories of the 2019-20 Auburn basketball team.
Mills Ackerman | Tallahassee, Fla.
"South Alabama buzzer beater, LSU comeback, Richmond & New Mexico wins really made me think we had a great chance to compete early on. Those 3s by McCormick and Austin Wiley block vs LSU have to be number 1."
Jared Ikner | Monroeville, Ala.
"Auburn vs South Alabama: My first real basketball game to watch in person. I go to South and decided to sit with all of the Auburn fans in the upper deck. Extremely fun game to watch, the last ten minutes were very tense with South making a comeback. When Okoro iced the final basket all the Auburn fans there erupted and in that moment I knew we had a special team this year. Would also like to thank the older gentleman sitting behind me who taught me about this years team and answering all of my noob basketball questions."
Keaton Meredith | Mobile, Ala.
"Probably the LSU game. at about 1:30 left on the clock, I said 'it was a good game, but LSU came and balled out. Good game Tigers' and then we won. That's the moment I really realized that this team hates losing."
Josh W. | Birmingham, Ala.
"This feels like a lifetime ago, but Samir juking that guy so hard he falls down, Samir looks down at him, looks up at the basket, shoots the 3, and turns around. That moment was when I knew that Samir had put the Final 4 ending behind him (as well as anyone possibly could). From that point on, Samir just looked more like himself. He had his struggles through the season, but he genuinely loved being on the floor. That moment epitomized his personality, in my opinion."
Adam Noyes | Utica, N.Y.
"I have to say that my favorite moment was when GameDay came to the plains and seeing the whole town and the fan base put their best on display. The game was a nail biter but I knew that we could pull it out and show the country that we are a powerhouse. So many people now ask me about Auburn when before some didn’t even know about us. So proud of this team and War Eagle."
AuburnSports.com subscriber @WarEagleHodge | Locust Fork, Ala.
"The LSU comeback was my favorite moment of the season. The why: it further proved this team can literally come back from any deficit and win the close ones, even when their stats make zero sense."
Twitter user @BravesClayton
"I wasn’t in the building, but I had just moved to my new apartment an hour away from where I’ve lived my whole life and I stopped moving to watch the Vandy v AU game. Only thing in my living room was my TV and I sat on the floor and when Okoro posterized that poor guy against Vandy I ran around my empty apartment and screamed like I was in the building. It was at that moment where I realized that Okoro was for real and that I was thankful I was an Auburn basketball fan. I realize this probably wasn’t exactly what you were thinking for a 'story' but it was probably my favorite moment from this season. War Eagle!"
Kaitlyn Hardy | Birmingham, Ala.
"My favorite moment was probably J'Von saving the LSU game twice. It took time off the clock and went in. It was a beautiful-like jumper. After coming back from being down 8 in the last minute they fought back and took care of business."
Max Halcomb | Auburn, Ala.
"My favorite moment from this years team actually didn’t happen on the court. I’m on the leadership team at Our House, an organization that provides after school tutoring and ministry to under privileged students that live in a housing community off of Donahue. On the first Saturday of each month, we hold “Breakfast Club”, where we invite the kids and their families to come eat and we have a short sermon. On one of the Breakfast clubs late last year, the basketball team joined us. They helped us clean up Our House by raking leaves and other things. Seeing them interact with the kids just really put a smile on my face, especially Anfernee, because he knew so many of them by name."
Drew Crowson | Auburn, Ala.
"My favorite moment was the time Isaac Okoro went coast to coast for a dunk vs Alabama. Second favorite was when Samir killed that guy and then hit a three while already turned around to swagger off."
Katie Beck | Birmingham, Ala.
"The support of the Auburn Bench! They may not get a ton of playing time, but they are equally as important on the sideline for support."
Blake Oliver | Auburn, Ala.
"This is my favorite moment. It’s McLemore holding my son after the whole team signed his basketball at Tip Off at Toomers before the season actually started. This team had some truly good people on it."
Zeth Olive | Nashville, Tenn.
"My favorite part of this season was being in person to watch the comeback vs Ole Miss. Anfernee honestly deserves for #24 to hang in the rafters and this night was his statistical stamp on the AU basketball program. He leads from so many different perspectives and levels and this night proved to be somewhat of a turning point for this team in the season. If we lost we go to 4-3 in sec with games be UK, Arkansas and LSU to follow. Could have put us at 4-6 in a hurry and our senior took control and starts a stream of thrillers to really solidify this team as a top tier contender.
"Love Ant and what he did at Auburn. He deserves a lot of credit and I know BP is grateful to have had a kid like that come thru our program."
Ethan Williams | Florence, Ala.
"My top moment from this season has to be the last game they played at Tennessee. I really thought that game could’ve been what this team needed to propel itself into the tournament. After going through the season struggling practically every road game, not only did they have their best road game, but overall game as well. This was arguably also Samir’s best game of his Auburn career and I’m glad he had that game to end his career.
"I know I already said this, but I really believed that game was gonna be the start of another special run this year."
Joshua England | Huntsville, Ala.
"My favorite moment from the season was when Issac Okoro punked Keion Brooks Jr. and hit a step back 3 on him to ice the game. Because Issac Okoro is a king and that was the cherry on top of a fantastic game from him and probably cemented him as a top 5 pick."
AuburnSports.com subscriber @aerotiger | Los Angeles, Calif.
"Beating Kentucky will be a highlight any season. The rise of Okoro was amazing to see. The winning streak (I know...not a moment but that was awesome)."
AuburnSports.com subscriber @DM8
"Okoro's game winner at USA was huge. That shot was a key turning point in the season. It also demonstrated the player he was about to become. Kid absolutely refused to lose. Hate that his Auburn career had to end in such a terrible way."
AuburnSports.com subscriber @aulax08
"Watched the LSU game winner with my dad and family on his birthday. Pretty special."
AuburnSports.com subscriber @Law Tiger | Chicago, Ill.
"I like that the Auburn Tigers are a reigning Final Four team through 2021."
AuburnSports.com subscriber @CLEVELAUND BROWN | Nashville, Tenn.
"Our OT games...when you thought they were down...they never gave up."
AuburnSports.com subscriber @DufnerFanBoy
"The "moving week" stretch of play should be considered. Don't know if it's a specific top 5 moment, but what Auburn did from the first OM game through the Bama game was outrageous. Multiple significant double-digit comebacks, multiple OT games, college gameday. That 5-game stretch was just ridiculous."
AuburnSports.com subscriber @BarnBasketball
"The LSU and Tennessee comebacks are definitely up there as is any time Okoro touched the ball. Also, Jaylin Williams emergence at the end of the year was fun to watch. I miss it so much already."
AuburnSports.com subscriber @Ruxpin | Atlanta, Ga.
"I loved watching these seniors all year ... love this group. Really tough to see it end this way."
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