Alabama Crimson Tide

Spencer, Brown Suspensions Devastating for Auburn Basketball

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:29 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jake Mastroianni/FanSided via Fly War Eagle

The suspensions of sophomore Bryce Brown and Horace Spencer are devastating for an Auburn basketball team that is struggling to defend and rebound.

Auburn basketball has struggled in its past four games, even though it’s gone 2-2 during that stretch, there are some major concerns on defense and with rebounding.

The Tigers are currently giving up almost 73 points a game, and they’re getting our rebounded on average 40-36.

And then this happens…

Say what you want about marijuana, but it’s still considered illegal in the state of Alabama. I understand kids make mistakes, but come on, you have to be smarter than this.

By violating the rules, Bryce Brown and Horace Spencer put themselves ahead of the team, and that’s never cool.

Several Auburn basketball players tweeted their support for them, and we support them as well, but that doesn’t mean I’m not frustrated or disappointed with them.

“We’ll be without our best defender in Bryce Brown and we’ll be without our best rebounder in Horace Spencer. It’ll complicate things even further,” said Bruce Pearl.

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While I don’t agree with the coach that Brown is our best defense and Spencer is our best rebounder, it certainly does complicate things for a team that is struggling in both areas.

Now the Tigers will try to overcome those obstacles without two players who are known for defense and rebounding.

I actually think LaRon Smith has been the better player down low all season, so I’m not concerned with him getting the extra playing time.

However, Auburn was already thin in the paint, and now 6-foot-7 freshman Anfernee McLemore will have to step up in the absence of Spencer.

Pearl has already ruled Brown and Spencer out for Thursday’s game against Coastal Carolina, but the actual length of the suspensions is still to be determined.

In all honesty, Auburn basketball should still be able to beat Coastal Carolina and Mercer at home in their next two games. I would expect they’ll at least be out for those games, but if they aren’t back for Oklahoma and UCONN things could get ugly.

I really hate this for the team, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. After a disappointing loss on the road, I was hoping to see the Tigers come back home and get on track.

I hope Spencer and Brown have learned this lesson and we can put this behind us quickly.