The 1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

in the 1987–88 college basketball season. The team's head coach was

Sonny Smith Charles H. "Sonny" Smith (born November 15, 1936) is an American former college basketball coach. Originally from Roan Mountain, Tennessee, Smith served as a head coach for 22 seasons. Best known as the head coach at Auburn from 1978 to 1989, ...

, who was in his tenth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at Joel H. Eaves Memorial Coliseum in

Auburn, Alabama Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama. The population was 76,143 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Auburn metropolitan area, Alabama, Aubu ...

. They finished the season 19–11, 11–7 in SEC play. They lost to

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in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated

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to advance to the Second Round where they lost to

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. The Tigers' most notable freshman signee was 7'0" center

Matt Geiger Matthew Allen Geiger (born September 10, 1969) is an American former professional National Basketball Association (NBA) player who played at the center position. College career Geiger played for Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida ...

. 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

Schedule and Results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, SEC Tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA Tournament

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1987-88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team Auburn Tigers men's basketball seasons Auburn Auburn

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...