1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

The 1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University in the 1987–88 college basketball season. The team's head coach was Sonny Smith, who was in his tenth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at Joel H. Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 19–11, 11–7 in SEC play. They lost to Georgia in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Bradley to advance to the Second Round where they lost to Oklahoma.[1]

1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
NCAA tournament, second round
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record19–11 (11–7 SEC)
Head coach
Home arenaJoel H. Eaves Memorial Coliseum
1987–88 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 6 Kentucky135 .722276  .818
Auburn117 .6111911  .633
Florida117 .6112312  .657
LSU108 .5561614  .533
Vanderbilt108 .5562011  .645
Tennessee99 .5001613  .552
Georgia810 .4442016  .556
Ole Miss612 .3331316  .448
Alabama612 .3331417  .452
Mississippi State612 .3331415  .483
1988 SEC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The Tigers' most notable freshman signee was 7'0" center Matt Geiger. Geiger was pressed into service early as a starter when senior Jeff Moore went down with an early-season injury.

Junior forward Mike Jones, the Tigers' leading scorer and rebounder, was declared academically ineligible and left the team after seven games. As a result, sophomore John Caylor became a starting forward along with senior Chris Morris. Caylor paid an immediate dividend by hitting a game-winning 3-point shot with 10 seconds left to give the Tigers an early conference road victory over #1-ranked Kentucky.

Guards Gerald White and Frank Ford were lost to graduation, but seniors Terrence Howard and Johnny Lynn, sophomore Derrick Dennison, and juco transfer Keenan Carpenter were able to offset the loss.

Roster

1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F 34 Chris Morris 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
SrFredrick Douglass High School Atlanta, Georgia
F 13 Mike Jones 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Jr Columbus, Georgia
C 40 Jeff Moore 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
SrMidfield High School Midfield, Alabama
G 10 Terrence Howard 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
SrSouthwest High School Southwest, AL
F 22 John Caylor 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
SoMorristown West High School Talbott, Tennessee
C 25 Matt Geiger 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
FrCountryside High School Clearwater, FL
G 30 Keenan Carpenter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Jr Rutherfordton, Tennessee
G 24 Derrick Dennison 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
SoDouglass High School Atlanta, Georgia
G 14 Johnny Lynn 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
SrBeech High School Hendersonville, Tennessee
G 11 Melvin Haralson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Jr Jackson, Mississippi
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Schedule and Results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
Nov 27, 1987*
vs. South Alabama W 120-67  1-0
Birmingham, AL 
Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center
Dec 1, 1987*
Virginia Commonwealth W 93-80  2-0
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Dec 7, 1987*
Tennessee-Martin W 99-77  3-0
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Dec 11, 1987*
vs. San Jose State
Illinois Classic
W 70-65  4-0
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, IL
Dec 12, 1987*
at Illinois
Illini Classic
L 103-107  4-1
Assembly Hall 
Champaign, IL
Dec 14, 1987*
Grambling State W 98-59  5-1
Beard-Eaves Memorial Colliseum 
Auburn, AL
Dec 16, 1987*
Mercer W 80-48  6-1
Beard-Eaves Memorial Colliseum 
Auburn, AL
Dec 29, 1987*
vs. Villanova
Cotton States Classic
W 65-64  7-1
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 
Atlanta, GA
Dec 30, 1987*
at Georgia Tech
Cotton States Classic
L 72-83  7-2
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 
Atlanta, GA
Jan 6, 1988
7:00 p.m., JPT
No. 15 Florida W 72-67  8-2 (1-0)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Jan 9, 1988
at No. 1 Kentucky W 53-52  9-2 (2-0)
Rupp Arena 
Lexington, KY
Jan 13, 1988
No. 19 at Georgia L 68-87  9-3 (2-1)
Stegeman Coliseum 
Athens, GA
Jan 16, 1988
No. 19 Mississippi State W 65-57  10-3 (3-1)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Jan 20, 1988
at Tennessee L 64-75  10-4 (3-2)
Thompson-Boling Arena 
Knoxville, TN
Jan 23, 1988
Vanderbilt L 71-75  10-5 (3-3)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Jan 27, 1988
Alabama W 84-74  11-5 (4-3)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Jan 30, 1988
at Mississippi L 66-69  11-6 (4-4)
C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum 
Oxford, MS
Feb 3, 1988
LSU L 69-78  11-7 (4-5)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Feb 6, 1988
at No. 19 Florida W 58-57  12-7 (5-5)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
Feb 10, 1988
No. 10 Kentucky L 62-69  12-8 (5-6)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Feb 13, 1988
Georgia W 64-57  13-8 (6-6)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Feb 17, 1988
at Mississippi State W 77-61  14-8 (7-6)
Humphrey Coliseum 
Starkville, Ms
Feb 20, 1988
Tennessee W 73-68  15-8 (8-6)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
Feb 24, 1988
at No. 17 Vanderbilt W 81-68  16-8 (9-6)
Memorial Gymnasium 
Nashville, TN
Feb 27, 1988
at Alabama L 77-82  16-9 (9-7)
Coleman Coliseum 
Tuscaloosa, AL
March 2, 1988
Mississippi W 92-76  17-9 (10-7)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
March 5, 1988
at LSU W 89-80  18-9 (11-7)
Maravich Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
SEC Tournament
March 11, 1988
, JPT
(2) vs. (7) Georgia
Second Round
L 60-65  18-10
Maravich Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
NCAA Tournament
March 17, 1988*
(8 SE) vs. (9 SE) No. 11 Bradley
First Round
W 90-86  19-10
The Omni 
Atlanta, GA
March 19, 1988*
(8 SE) vs. (1 SE) No. 4 Oklahoma
Second Round
L 87-107  19-11
The Omni 
Atlanta, GA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
SE=Southeast.
All times are in Central.

Rankings

References

  1. "1987-88 Auburn Tigers Schedule and Results". Retrieved December 9, 2016.
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