Sports

Auburn thrashes Kansas to roll into the Sweet 16

SALT LAKE CITY — Spring football can wait. Auburn has a different team worthy of its attention.

Bruce Pearl and the fifth-seeded Tigers are headed to their first Sweet 16 in 16 years after an 89-75 thrashing of No. 4 Kansas at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Saturday night in a Midwest Region second-round game. Auburn, one of the nation’s hottest teams with 10 straight victories, will meet the winner of No. 1 North Carolina/No. 9 Washington on Friday night in Kansas City, Mo.

“It’s a big step,” Pearl said.

In a reversal of Auburn’s blowout loss in the second round a year ago to Clemson, it treated the Jayhawks like an ill-equipped sparring partner, racing out to a double-digit lead just 4:21 after the opening tip. It would only get worse for Kansas, which saw its streak of consecutive Sweet 16 berths end at three after its Big 12 regular season title streak was snapped at 14.

After a narrow one-point win over No. 12 New Mexico State on Saturday that could’ve ended Auburn’s season, Pearl was encouraged by his players’ reaction afterward. They were angry at themselves, and it showed.

“There’s a much different feel [than last year] because we have 10 healthy bodies, we’re playing really good basketball,” Pearl said. “We were in the best position that the program could possibly be in to win that basketball game.”

Auburn’s backcourt of Jared Harper and Bryce Brown outscored the Big 12 powerhouse, 31-25, in the first half. It was a perfect 20 minutes for the Tigers, who shot 55 percent from the field, 52 percent from 3-point range, and committed just two turnovers. The 26-point halftime lead was the largest deficit for Kansas in its long NCAA Tournament history. Kansas got within 18 midway through the second half, only to see Auburn reel off nine straight points to push the lead to 27.

Brown scored 25 points and hit seven 3-pointers for Auburn (28-9) and Harper added 18 points and six assists. Dedric Lawson had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Kansas (26-10), which suffered double-digit defeats for the first time since 2014.

“The reality is this Auburn basketball team is a better team than the Kansas team,” Pearl said. “We’ve got some firepower. We like to think we’re tough to play against because we play 10 guys that play and they all contribute. So in some ways, it really wasn’t an upset. I thought the better team won tonight.”