End-of-game collapse ends Auburn's season

For most of the game, it felt like Auburn was in control.

The Tigers led for 33:39 and even when Yale went on a run at the start of the second half, Auburn immediately responded and pushed the lead to as much as 10.

With 7:27 to go, Denver Jones hit a three to push Auburn's lead to 68-58. After that point, Auburn committed six turnovers, shot 2-of-7 from the line and was out-scored 20-8.

Something was missing in that stretch, and that something was Chad Baker-Mazara.

Auburn was up 12-5 early on and was getting whatever it wanted, but then Baker-Mazara was ejected and the energy shifted away from Auburn.

Baker-Mazara is one of Auburn's best creators, and it sorely missed him down the stretch. But there was more to the story than just missing Baker-Mazara.

"We put the ball in Chad's hands a lot late to make plays," said Bruce Pearl. "So really, offensively we lost a huge breakdown guy for us. But I would say it's our turnovers. Yale played solid defensively. Mahoney was 9-11 from the foul line. So he was on the ground a lot. I'm going to be anxious to see what all the -- we just fouled him too much."

Auburn had its chances late: Denver Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one with Auburn down one with 45 seconds remaining. Tre Donaldson missed two free throws that would have tied the game with six seconds remaining, and finally, Auburn couldn't convert its final two shots after the free throws.

Game over. Season over.

It was a devastating end for a team that had accomplished so much including an SEC Championship just five days prior.

"Just shock, not really being able to understand how much we underaccomplished," said Dylan Cardwell. "Just shock, really."

And while the collapse will hurt, Pearl looked at all of the good that his team accomplished, which there was a lot of.

"Auburn had a historic year," Pearl said. "We were picked in the middle of our league, we wound up being one game out of first in the regular season, we got hot late.

"So I'm very proud of 'em. Like these guys said, they got along really, really well together. They made history. This is the fourth different team at Auburn that has won a championship in the last seven years; two regular season, two tournaments. They represented Auburn really well."