SEC Basketball Just Means...Less? No. 4 Seed Auburn Blows Lead, Falls To Yale

The Southeastern Conference, which uses the slogan "It just means more," is finding March maddening…and its teams having much less of a presence in the NCAA Tournament already.

No. 4 seed and SEC Tournament champion Auburn became the second, elite-seeded SEC power to lose in less than 24 hours on Friday night, falling to No. 13 seed Yale of the Ivy League 78-76, in the NCAA Tournament first round in Spokane, Washington.

No. 3 seed Kentucky lost Thursday night to No. 14 seed Oakland, 80-76, in Pittsburgh.

Yale (23-9) came from behind late to beat Brown in the Ivy League Tournament to get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and did that again Friday as Auburn led 68-58 with 7:35 to go. The Bulldogs won their first NCAA Tournament game since beating Baylor in 2016 and just their second all-time.

Yale's Bez Mbeng celebrates his team's 78-76 victory over No. 4 seed Auburn in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Friday in Spokane, Washington. (Getty Images)

"I try to stay calm," Yale coach James Jones said. "Just stay composed. We were fortunate enough to get it done."

Auburn (27-8) could not keep its composure or calm despite leading 41-34 at the half and by 68-58 just past the eight-minute mark. Auburn still led by 68-62 with 4:42 left and by 70-66 with 2:52 remaining, but Yale would not go away.

Auburn Couldn't Stop Yale's John Poulakidas 

John Poulakidas' 3-pointer with 2:11 to play put Yale ahead for the first time in the second half at 73-72, and it kept the lead the rest of the game. Poulakidas finished with 28 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.

"Obviously they made big shots, and John got hot, and we just couldn’t guard him," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "He made some big plays and big buckets. That’s what guys got to do at the end of things."

Johni Broome led Auburn with 24 points and 13 rebounds, but was injured late in the game. Auburn had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but couldn't score and Broome hit the floor in pain as the game ended.

Auburn's Trey Donaldson, who is an 83 percent shooter from the free throw line, missed two free throws with 6.1 seconds to play that would have tied the game.

Yale coach James Jones celebrates with his players in the locker room after the first NCAA Tournament win for the program since 2016. (Getty Images)

SEC Drops To 1-5 In NCAA Tournament

The SEC fell to 1-5 in the NCAA Tournament overall with the lone win by No. 2 seed and regular season champion Tennessee over No. 15 seed Saint Peter's, 83-49 on Thursday night.  The other three losers from the conference were No. 7 seed Florida to No. 10 seed Colorado, 102-100, on Friday, No. 6 seed South Carolina to No. 11 seed Oregon, 87-73, on Thursday, and No. 8 seed Mississippi State to No. 9 seed Michigan State, 69-51, on Thursday. 

No. 9 seed Texas A&M (20-14) was playing No. 8 seed Nebraska (23-10) and No. 4 seed Alabama (21-11) was playing No. 13 seed Charleston (27-7) on Friday night. 

Auburn starting junior forward Chad Baker-Mazara was ejected in the first half after elbowing Yale senior guard August Mahoney hard and high in the chest area. Mahoney's head snapped back, and officials immediately tossed Baker-Mazara. Mahoney had pushed Baker-Mazara on the previous trip down the floor, but not nearly as hard. He also didn't rare back with an elbow. It was more of a lesser push for position.

Baker-Mazara came in averaging 10.3 points a game, but finished with zero points and one assist in three minutes. Pearl said he was missed on the defensive end, though.

"It was huge," Pearl said of losing Baker-Mazara. "The fact that it was serious, maybe, or intentional (was referee's explanation). He lined him up and retaliated. So by book, it's flagrant. But it had a huge impact on the game. But it was excessive (to call it)."