Auburn basketball's loss to Baylor hurt, but it proved the offseason tweaks can work

The result was gut wrenching, no doubt.

Auburn basketball took it to No. 20 Baylor for the majority of its 88-82 loss to the Bears in the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Tuesday. The Tigers led for 25:20, held a 9-point advantage at halftime and battled Baylor — a traditionally great rebounding team — to an even 38-38 mark on the boards.

But the Bears closed the final 5:46 on a 19-7 run, with 10 of their points during that sequence coming from the foul line. Baylor freshman Ja'Kobe Walter dropped a game-high 28 points, which is the fourth-highest output for a player making his debut in Big 12 history.

Auburn falling to the Bears, especially after having such a golden opportunity for a tone-setting win, is a disappointment: "It's a missed opportunity," coach Bruce Pearl said postgame. "This hurts the SEC, it hurts our league. Come Selection Sunday, games like this matter. We did not do what we came here to do."

But it's also an encouraging performance by a team with a lot of moving parts.

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The Tigers added four new scholarship players to their rotation this offseason, with the headliner being five-star freshman Aden Holloway out of Prolific Prep in Napa, California. The other newcomers include transfers Chad Baker-Mazara (Northwest Florida State), Chaney Johnson (Alabama-Hunstville) and Denver Jones (Florida International).

All of the fresh faces had something in common upon arrival to the Plains: They could shoot it from deep. The trio of transfers combined to shoot 39.2% from beyond the 3-point arc at their previous schools in 2022-23, and the biggest part of Holloway's game is his impact from long range.

There was a clear emphasis on outside shooting, and the numbers have seemingly translated.

Auburn knocked down 47.4% of its 3-pointers against Baylor — the first game of the season against a team that commonly boasts a defense amongst the country's best. That mark from deep is higher than all but two of AU's games from a season ago, as the Tigers knocked down 60% of their triples in an overtime loss at Alabama in March and 50% of their 3-pointers in a blowout win against Missouri in February.

Holloway shined like the star he was advertised as, leading Auburn with a team-high 19 points to go along with six assists, three rebounds and a block. He knocked down half of his eight attempts from 3-point range, with the first bucket of his Auburn career fittingly being an and-one make from 3-point territory.

Jones chipped in with 13 points, and Baker-Mazara was all over the place with seven points, two offensive rebounds and two steals. Both of his takeaways came during a sequence in which Auburn was playing at a frantic pace, forcing Baylor into disarray in the first half.

The increased space created by Auburn's sweet-shooting newcomers gave junior big man Johni Broome more opportunity to work. He went cold toward the end of the game, but he finished with a double-double and hit two of his three shots from beyond the arc; his increased range helping further Auburn's five-out offense.

That's not to say growing pains aren't to be expected, though. Holloway wasn't perfect — he and starting point guard Tre Donaldson combined to turn the ball over seven times — and Broome didn't score in the final 10 minutes. But it's obvious to see how the pieces can fit together.

Auburn was the only team in the SEC to open against an opponent ranked in the AP Top 25. The new-look Tigers paid for it, but they also showed they're capable of, at times, outplaying a team that's primed to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

That bodes well in a conference brimming with teams poised to make noise in March.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Why Auburn basketball's loss to Baylor should be encouraging to fans