Good morning. In a storybook closing chapter to a spectacular career, Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a career-high 32 points in her Neville Arena finale Thursday to lead Auburn to a 77-60 wire-to-wire win over Mississippi State on Senior Night.
 
“I'm very proud of myself and where I am today. Wouldn't have done it without my coaching staff, teammates and parents,” said Scott-Grayson.
 
Scott-Grayson tied her career high of 31 on a layup with 1:25 to play, drawing a foul and making the free throw to tie Blanche Alverson's Neville Arena record of 32 points by an Auburn player, set in 2013.
 
"She deserved that," Harris said. "Honesty is truly special. This place means a lot to her. This is a player who loves Auburn."
 
Auburn closes out the 2023-24 regular season vs. Florida Sunday at 11 a.m. CT in Gainesville as the Tigers seek to remove any doubt about an NCAA Tournament bid.

What else can you find mixed into today’s Brew?

🗣 Even opposing coaches can’t stop talking about The Neville Effect
🏀 Honesty Scott-Grayson on watch list for the 2024 All-Star Game
🐅 And much, much more!

📹 WAREAGLE+: ONE-ON-ONE

Bruce Pearl One-On-One (2/29/24)
Bruce Pearl sits down with Andy Burcham to recap Auburn's games at Georgia and Tennessee, and preview the Tigers home game vs Mississippi State.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Eye On the Tigers. The No. 14 Auburn gymnastics team heads to No. 20 Georgia tonight for a matchup in Athens. The teams will face off at 6 p.m. CT in Stegeman Coliseum and the meet will be televised on SEC Network.
 
"Georgia is always a tough environment to compete in and this is a team that will give us their best at home,” head coach Jeff Graba said. “We need to be focused and prepared to be successful."
 
With National Qualifying Score now in play, the Tigers are looking for another opportunity to improve their ranking.
 
Auburn stays on the road, going to 2024 Podium Challenge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Tigers will face No. 3 LSU along with Texas Women's and George Washington on March 8th at 6 p.m. CT. The podium meet will be held in the Raising Cane's River Center.

Auburn Gymnastics also got quite the shoutout from Bridget Sloan and Big Ten Analyst Olivia Karas! As discussed on the Flipping Out podcast, the Tigers are currently projected as one of the four seeded teams in the Cal Regional.

🔼 Tigers Gone Mad. Fresh off her no-hit performance on Sunday, Maddie Penta raised the stakes by tossing her first perfect game and the third in Auburn softball history as the No. 25 Tigers (7-2-1) walked off Georgia State (5-12) for an 8-0 win in six innings Thursday night at Jane B. Moore Field.

Improving to 4-2 on the season, Penta is just four wins shy of setting Auburn softball's all-time wins record. She now stands second outright with 64 career victories.
 
"Perfect games are special," said head coach Mickey Dean. "A great game behind the plate from Aubrie [Lisenby] to go along with some great defensive efforts. We got some timely hits late to put it away."
 
Auburn returns to the diamond on Friday for the Jane B. Moore Memorial tournament. The Tigers take on Northwestern at 5 p.m. CT to open the tournament slate. Friday's contest is available on the SEC Network+.

🔼 No Ordinary Jungle. After playing at Auburn two weeks ago, Kentucky head coach John Calipari wrapped up his postgame press conference with a mention of the sold-out crowd at Neville Arena.

“Every game we play is either [College] GameDay on the road or look at this crowd. I can’t believe all these people are in here,” he said.

What Calipari didn't understand is that the fans didn’t show up that night because it was Kentucky. They showed up because it was Auburn. Every game this season has been sold out. There’s a current streak of 53 consecutive sellouts at Neville Arena. The students have waited in line countless times during the season. They camped out two weeks earlier for the Alabama game.

Read the feature on Neville Arena for more on what separates it from other venues.

🔼 Freeze’s Big Chill. From new coaches and players to an enhanced focus on team culture, Auburn kicked off spring practice this week heading into Hugh Freeze's second season on the Plains. 

"There's been a lot of positive things in our building since January," Freeze said. "Many of those are coming from the player-led arena, which I love. I really think player-led teams are the best teams."

Auburn's 12-member culture council – elected by the team - helps set and maintain team standards, Freeze says. 

"There's got to be accountability in every area, from the training table to academics to the way we approach work, our timeliness, our effort," he said. "I've been really pleased with the leadership I'm seeing from that group.”

Auburn practiced Tuesday and Thursday, taking the first steps into the 2024 season.

"The energy at practice Tuesday was really nice," Freeze said. "Excited about what I see heading into spring No. 2 for us."

🔼 The Honest to Grayson Truth. Auburn graduate student Honesty Scott-Grayson, aka “The Maestro,” has been named to the watch list for the 2024 Women's College All-Star Game.
 
The 2024 Women's College All-Star Game, set for Saturday, April 6, in Cleveland, will feature the top senior standouts who are on the verge of hearing their names called in the WNBA Draft. Of the 50-plus players on the watch list, 20 will be selected to participate in the event.
 
Scott-Grayson enters the final week of the regular season third in the SEC in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game. She has scored 15-plus points in 13 of 14 SEC games so far, is second in the league in scoring in conference games (19.9 ppg) and she earned SEC and national accolades for her performance in the Tigers' win over LSU on Jan. 14.

🔼 Auburn men's tennis will begin Southeastern Conference play against Ole Miss at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center today at 3 p.m. CT
 
"Ole Miss is pretty much the exact same team that we saw last year," said Auburn head coach Bobby Reynolds. "We've watched a lot of video this week to figure out how Tyler [Stice] can get to [Nikola] Slavic at the No. 1 position. Tyler is playing some of the best tennis that I have seen him play over the five years that he has been here right now."
 
The Rebels control the all-time series at 35-31, but the Tigers have won each of the last three meetings, including a 4-0 win last season at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
 
"It's a tough environment to play in at Oxford," continued Reynolds.
 
Live video and live scoring of today’s match will be available online at olemisssports.com.

🔼 Trial Sans Error. Three Tigers punched their tickets to the 2024 US Olympic Trials on Wednesday.
 
Logan Tirheimer, Britton Spann and Jacques Rathle all earned qualifying times during the Auburn Leap Year Olympic Qualifier inside the James E. Martin Aquatic Center.
 
Tirheimer, fresh off a monumental week at the SEC Championships, continued his fine form, blasting a 22.73 in the 50 free to duck under the qualifying mark of 22.79. '
 
Freshman Britton Spann delivered an impressive 2:15.76 in the 200 breast to punch his ticket.
 
Rathle hit the wall at 2:03.13 in the 200 IM to make it a triumphant trio on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The 2024 US Olympic Trials are set for June 15-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Qualification for the trials is open until June 4, 2024.
 
Up next—Auburn hosts the Last Chance Meet today and tomorrow as the last opportunity to grab NCAA qualifying times this season. For John Fox's diving crew, the NCAA Zones Qualifier begins, March 10-13 in Athens, GA.

🔼 UConn Do It. See what we did there?

Starting a stretch of eight games in the next 10 days, No. 14 Auburn hosts UConn for a three-game series at Plainsman Park this weekend. First pitches against the Huskies are this evening at 6 p.m. CT, and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.   

"They play a certain brand of baseball that they take a lot of pride in," head coach Butch Thompson said of UConn. "They'll play the game extremely well with sound technique and are a very athletic club that'll stretch us.
 
The games will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on 94.3 FM Friday and Sunday and 100.3 FM Saturday. The series opener and finale will also be streamed digitally on SEC Network+.

Read the full article for info on probable starters, scouting UConn and tips for those attending.

🔼 Tough Tiger Tennis Incoming. No. 12 Auburn will face its first two Southeastern Conference opponents of the season at home over the weekend. The Tigers will face Kentucky on Friday at 3 p.m. CT and 23^rd ranked Vanderbilt on Sunday at noon CT at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
 
"It's always great when it's SEC play because it means a little bit more," said Auburn head coach Lester Cook.
 
Auburn will enter Friday's match with a 6-5 record following a weekend that ended with a 7-0 shutout of USF in Tampa. Fifth-year senior Carolyn Anasri had a perfect weekend for the Tigers during their Florida swing, winning both of her singles matches and both of her doubles matches.
 
Live video and live scoring of both matches will be available online at AuburnTigers.com.

 🤔 TIGER TRIVIA

🐅 ONE BIG THING

But First, Media. The first sign of football season? Media Day! Coach Freeze will be heading to Dallas, Texas, on July 18 for 2024 SEC Media Day.

🏆 VICTORY FORMATION

📬 SPREAD THE WORD

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

Friday 3/1

🌊 Swimming & Diving SEC Championship - Last Chance Meet

🎾 Men’s Tennis @ Ole Miss @ Time TBD | Live Stats

⚾️ Baseball vs. UConn @ Time TBD on SEC Network+ | Live Stats | Tickets | Game Program

🥎 Softball vs. USC Upstate @ 1 p.m. CT SEC Network+ | Live Stats | Tickets

🥎 Softball vs. Northwestern @ 4 p.m. CT SEC Network+ | Live Stats | Tickets

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. Kentucky @ 3 p.m. CT

🤸🏼‍♂️ Gymnastics @ Georgia @ 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network

Saturday 3/2

🌊 Swimming & Diving SEC Championship - Last Chance Meet\

🐎 Equestrian vs. SMU @ 11 a.m. CT

⚾️ Baseball vs. UConn @ 1 p.m. CT SEC Network+ | Live Stats | Tickets | Game Program

🥎 Softball vs. Northwestern @ 2 p.m. CT | Live Stats | Tickets

🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. Mississippi State @ 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2 ESPNU | Live Stats | Tickets

🥎 Softball vs. North Texas @ 5 p.m. CT | Live Stats | Tickets

Sunday 3/3

🏀 Women’s Basketball @ Florida @ 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network 100.3 | Live Stats 

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. Vanderbilt @ 12 p.m. CT

⚾️ Baseball vs. UConn @ 1 p.m. CT SEC Network+ | Live Stats | Tickets | Game Program

🥎 Softball vs. North Texas @ 1 p.m. CT SEC Network+ | Live Stats | Tickets

🥎 Softball vs. USC Upstate @ 4 p.m. CT SEC Network+ | Live Stats | Tickets

🐅 Click here to view the entire Auburn Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 13 people came before Honesty Scott-Grayson, as this season she became the 14^th player in Auburn history to eclipse the 1,500-point career mark.

🐅 Have a great Friday, y’all