Good morning, Auburn Family. “If you can’t fly then run, If you can’t run then walk, If you can’t walk then crawl, But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Today, we pause to honor a man who moved our country and our society forward in so many ways.

As we celebrate victories, moments and stories in each and every Brew, let us remember those who helped pave the paths before us. 

This morning, we hope you enjoy this bite-sized Tigers Brew. (Think of it as a single shot of the Orange & Blue)

We’ll be back with your Venti-sized edition on Tuesday.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 LS-Who? In front of the largest crowd to witness a women's basketball game at Neville Arena, Auburn stunned defending national champion No. 7 LSU 67-62 Sunday behind 21 points from Honesty Scott-Grayson.
 
"We told them you've got to be tough," said head coach Johnnie Harris, who earned her second top-10 win at Auburn. "I'm proud for them to play in front of a crowd like this. We fed off their energy. We're making progress. Come and support this team because they deserve it. They work really hard."
 
With Auburn leading 64-62 in the final seconds, Taylen Collins skillfully defended LSU All-American Angel Reese, and JaMya Mingo-Young double-teamed, stole the ball, drew a foul and made both free throws to put the Tigers ahead by four with 10 seconds left.
 
With 7,720 in attendance, Scott-Grayson opened the fourth quarter with a jumper that gave the Tigers a one-point lead as cheers of "Let's go Auburn!" thundered through the arena.
 
"We knew we had to go out there and put on a show," Scott-Grayson said. "To see all of those people was a sight to see.”
 
Auburn (12-5, 1-3) travels to Nashville to play Vanderbilt on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT before returning to the Plains next Sunday to host Alabama to start a three-game homestand.

🔼 Last Men Standing. Auburn was one of only two remaining teams in the SEC not to fall on Saturday following a 93-78 victory over LSU in a sold-out Neville Arena. 

It marked the ninth straight win for Auburn, as the team moves to 3-0 in league play for the first time since 2020 and 14-2 overall.

Chad Baker-Mazara led the home Tigers with 19 points, setting a new high at Auburn, and made a significant impact on the defensive end as well with a career-high five steals. 

Baker-Mazara was one of four Auburn players to score in double figures against LSU, along with Johni Broome, Aden Holloway and Tre Donaldson. 

As a team, Auburn racked up a season-high 15 steals and turned 16 LSU turnovers into 24 points. It was the most steals Auburn has had in a conference game since it had 18 steals in a home win over Tennessee in February 2020. 

"It's getting really obvious that our second group coming in is really effective defensively and turning people over and playing with a different level of effort and energy and effectiveness," added Pearl. 

"That kind of won us the game today," Holloway said of the second group. "We'll get a slight lead, but when CB's (Baker-Mazara) group comes in, they just blow out the lead to 18 or 20. It just makes it easier for us. I give them a bunch of credit."

With the win, Pearl moved past Cliff Ellis into second on Auburn's career head coaching wins list with 187 wins. Joel Eaves is first with 213 victories. 

Auburn (14-2, 3-0) will leave the friendly confines of Neville Arena this week and travel to the Music City for a showdown at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. 

🔼 The Grandest Finale. The No. 11 Auburn gymnastics team saved its best for last, earning a 9.925 and a pair of 9.9s on floor to eclipse the 197-mark Friday in its home opener at sold-out Neville Arena.
 
No. 9 Kentucky lived up to its ranking, outscoring the Tigers 197.475-197.025.
 
"I'm really proud of the team," Auburn coach Jeff Graba said. "I love the fact that we're continuing to give new people opportunities. The main job was to fight tonight and get a little bit better, and we did."
 
After Aria Brusch and Julianne Huff led off with 9.85s on floor, Gabby McLaughlin completed her excellent night by earning a career-high 9.9 with a routine that elicited a loud ovation.
 
Sophia Groth followed with a 9.9; Cassie Stevens earned a 9.85, and Olivia Hollingsworth anchored with a 9.925, Auburn's highest score of the meet, to help the Tigers score 49.425 on the floor.
 
Making her Auburn debut, senior transfer Sydney Schumaker highlighted the Tigers' opening rotation with a 9.9 to earn a share of the vault title with Kentucky's Cecily Rizo.
 
The Tigers remain at Neville Arena next Friday when they host Florida at 5 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

🔼 Charles in Charge. Veteran defensive coach and former Auburn football player Charles Kelly has been named co-defensive coordinator at his alma mater, head coach Hugh Freeze announced Friday. A native of Ozark, Alabama, Kelly played at Auburn from 1986-89 under legendary coach Pat Dye and returned to the Plains in 1993 as a graduate assistant. 

Kelly most recently served as defensive coordinator at Colorado this past season after four years as the associate defensive coordinator at Alabama, where he won a national championship in 2020. Kelly was the 2023 247Sports National Recruiter of the Year and was ranked in the top five nationally in 2022.

"I am very grateful to return to a university and a football program that has meant so much to me growing up in this state and playing for Coach Dye," Kelly said. "It's an honor to work with Coach Freeze, whom I have a tremendous amount of respect for, and I'm appreciative of him for this opportunity…War Eagle!"

"Charles is an outstanding football mind who is an excellent recruiter and understands the landscape of Auburn and the Southeastern Conference," Coach Freeze said.

🔼 Advantage Auburn. The Tigers tennis team enjoyed success in their first matches of 2024 during the first day of the South Carolina Invite in Columbia. The Tigers claimed three singles victories and two doubles victories over the course of the day, highlighted by Ariana Arseneault's two-set victory over fourth-ranked Sarah Hamner of South Carolina. Arseneault's 7-6 (5), 6-4 win marks the highest ranked win of her Auburn career. 

"The first day of the spring always brings a lot of excitement," said Auburn head coach Caroline Lilley. "In every match, we earned windows. We responded well to the most disappointing moments and found reasons to remain steadfast when our opponents responded. As we progress around the Monopoly board of our season, we know this is just the beginning."

Live video and live scoring of the South Carolina Invite will be available online at track.tennis. Results will also be posted online at wearecollegetennis.com. 

📬 FORWARDED BY A FRIEND

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

Monday 1/15

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ South Carolina Invite

Tuesday 1/16

(No Activities Scheduled)

Wednesday 1/17

🏀 Men’s Basketball @ Vanderbilt @ 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network | Live Audio 

Thursday 1/18

🏀 Women’s Basketball @ Vanderbilt @ 26:30 p.m. CT on SECN+ 100.3 Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats 

Friday 1/19

👟 XCTF @ Vanderbilt Invitational

🌊 Swimming & Diving @ Alabama @ 4 p.m. CT

🤸🏼‍♂️ Gymnastics vs. Florida @ 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network | Tickets

Saturday 1/20

👟 XCTF @ Vanderbilt Invitational

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ North Carolina @ 10 a.m. CT

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. Tulane @ 11 a.m. CT | Live Video | Live Stats

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. Alabama A&M @ 3:30 p.m. CT | Live Video | Live Stats

🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. Ole Miss @ 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network | Live Audio | Live Stats | Tickets

Sunday 1/21

🏀 Women’s Basketball vs. Alabama @ 2 p.m. CT on SECN+ 100.3 | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Tickets

🐅 Click here to view the entire Auburn Athletics Calendar

🐅 Have a great Friday, y’all!