1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
1987–88 record	19–11 (11–7 SEC)
Head coach	Sonny Smith (10th season);
Home arena	Joel H. Eaves Memorial Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1986–87 1988–89 →

The 1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University in the 1987–88 college basketball season. The team's head coach was Sonny Smith, who was in his tenth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at Joel H. Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 19–11, 11–7 in SEC play. They lost to in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Bradley to advance to the Second Round where they lost to Oklahoma.^[1]

The Tigers' most notable freshman signee was 7'0" center Matt Geiger. Geiger was pressed into service early as a starter when senior Jeff Moore went down with an early-season injury.

Junior forward Mike Jones, the Tigers' leading scorer and rebounder, was declared academically ineligible and left the team after seven games. As a result, sophomore John Caylor became a starting forward along with senior Chris Morris. Caylor paid an immediate dividend by hitting a game-winning 3-point shot with 10 seconds left to give the Tigers an early conference road victory over #1-ranked Kentucky.

Guards Gerald White and Frank Ford were lost to graduation, but seniors Terrence Howard and Johnny Lynn, sophomore Derrick Dennison, and juco transfer Keenan Carpenter were able to offset the loss.

Roster[]

1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	34	Chris Morris	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr	Fredrick Douglass High School	Atlanta, Georgia
F	13	Mike Jones	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Jr	Columbus, Georgia
C	40	Jeff Moore	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Sr	Midfield High School	Midfield, Alabama
G	10	Terrence Howard	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Sr	Southwest High School	Southwest, AL
F	22		6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	So	Morristown West High School	Talbott, Tennessee
C	25	Matt Geiger	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	—	Fr	Countryside High School	Clearwater, FL
G	30		6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Jr	Rutherfordton, Tennessee
G	24		6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	So	Douglass High School	Atlanta, Georgia
G	14	Johnny Lynn	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Sr	Beech High School	Hendersonville, Tennessee
G	11		6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Jr	Jackson, Mississippi

Head coach

Sonny Smith (Milligan College)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Rankings[]

References[]

^ "1987-88 Auburn Tigers Schedule and Results". Retrieved 9 December 2016.

[1] "1987-88 Auburn Tigers Schedule and Results". Retrieved 9 December 2016.

[1]

v t Auburn Tigers men's basketball
Venues	(1906–1916) (1916–1946) Auburn Sports Arena (1946–1969) Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum (1969–2010) Auburn Arena (2010–present)
Rivalries	Alabama UAB
Culture & lore	Aubie The Jungle
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1927–28 1943–44 1954–55 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1965–66 1966–67 1968–69 1969–70 1977–78 1978–79 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1992–93 1994–95 1995–96 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2002–03 2004–05 2008–09 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics


v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 6 Kentucky †	13	–	5	.722	27	–	6	.818
Auburn	11	–	7	.611	19	–	11	.633
Florida	11	–	7	.611	23	–	12	.657
LSU	10	–	8	.556	16	–	14	.533
Vanderbilt	10	–	8	.556	20	–	11	.645
Tennessee	9	–	9	.500	16	–	13	.552
Georgia	8	–	10	.444	20	–	16	.556
Ole Miss	6	–	12	.333	13	–	16	.448
Alabama	6	–	12	.333	14	–	17	.452
Mississippi State	6	–	12	.333	14	–	15	.483

† 1988 SEC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll