No. 5 Auburn will return home looking to maintain its on-court momentum and its “strong family” when it welcomes Kent State on Wednesday night.
Fresh off a 74-69 upset Saturday night against then-ranked No. 4 Houston, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl was pleased with how his team responded through adversity after the team flight the day before had to be rescheduled due to a mid-air physical altercation between two Tiger reserve players, reported to be forwards Jahki Howard and Ja’Heim Hudson.
The chartered flight took off from Auburn University Regional Airport for Houston at 2:40 on Friday afternoon but was diverted back to the airport about an hour later, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
In audio obtained by CBS, the plane’s pilot can be heard telling air traffic controllers that two players “got into a physical alteration” and that “clothes were ripped.”
Neither Howard nor Hudson made the trip to Houston, but the Tigers overcame the altercation to post the upset. And Pearl was happy with the victory in what he called a “physical” game, in which the teams tied in rebounds at 33.
“It was outstanding,” Pearl said. “Let me tell you what I love about the game — student-athletes, pay attention: That was as physical of a game as we’re going to play. There wasn’t one ounce of animosity, unsportsmanlike conduct, nothing.
“Those guys [Houston] expected to get checked out, and our guys expected to get screens … it would be like playing Bobby Knight or playing Indiana. You know what you’re going to get. You know, when you’re playing a Bobby Knight team, they may talk a little less (expletive), but you know what you’re going to get.”
While Pearl offered no immediate comment about his team’s player altercation, attention quickly shifted toward the on-court action. The Tigers (2-0) were led by Tahaad Pettiford’s 21 points, 15 of those coming in the second half to pull away from the Cougars late.
Auburn’s Johni Broome, who finished with 20 points, said the victory over Houston overcame the mid-air incident.
“You know, stuff happens,” Broome said, per CBS. “But at the end of the day, we came here to play basketball. Everybody was locked in with each other. We were our brother’s keeper. We have a strong family here, and we came out here and won that basketball game.”
Pearl described the game’s atmosphere as a March-type feel in November, which he expects his team to endure throughout a non-conference schedule that will see Auburn play No. 7 Iowa State, No. 6 Duke, No. 21 Ohio State and No. 13 Purdue, as currently ranked, before Christmas.
However, before getting to those games, the Tigers will take on the Golden Flashes (2-0), who have yet to play a power-conference opponent this season. Their fast start has included a win in the home opener against Miami-Hamilton last Friday, 98-53. Kent State saw strong performances from Cli’Ron Hornbeak and VonCameron Davis, who each scored 18 points.
Kent State coach Rob Senderoff praised his team’s offense, which had 24 assists.
“We shared the ball,” Senderoff said after the game. “That was a real focus. We’ve been that way every night so far. In our scrimmages and the two games we’ve played, our guys have really tried to help their teammates look as good as they can.”
Kent State will get a week-long break after it plays Auburn, hosting Niagara on Nov. 21.
–Field Level Media
