# 1987–88 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

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 Georgia 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.
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.

## Schedule and Results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 27, 1987* | | vs. South Alabama | W 120-67 | 1-0 | Birmingham, AL Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center |
| Dec 1, 1987* | | Virginia Commonwealth | W 93-80 | 2-0 | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Dec 7, 1987* | | Tennessee-Martin | W 99-77 | 3-0 | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Dec 11, 1987* | | vs. San Jose State Illinois Classic | W 70-65 | 4-0 | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Dec 12, 1987* | | at Illinois Illini Classic | L 103-107 | 4-1 | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| Dec 14, 1987* | | Grambling State | W 98-59 | 5-1 | Beard-Eaves Memorial Colliseum Auburn, AL |
| Dec 16, 1987* | | Mercer | W 80-48 | 6-1 | Beard-Eaves Memorial Colliseum Auburn, AL |
| Dec 29, 1987* | | vs. Villanova Cotton States Classic | W 65-64 | 7-1 | Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, GA |
| Dec 30, 1987* | | at Georgia Tech Cotton States Classic | L 72-83 | 7-2 | Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, GA |
| Jan 6, 1988 7:00 p.m., JPT | | No. 15 Florida | W 72-67 | 8-2 (1-0) | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Jan 9, 1988 | | at No. 1 Kentucky | W 53-52 | 9-2 (2-0) | Rupp Arena Lexington, KY |
| Jan 13, 1988 | No. 19 | at Georgia | L 68-87 | 9-3 (2-1) | Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA |
| Jan 16, 1988 | No. 19 | Mississippi State | W 65-57 | 10-3 (3-1) | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Jan 20, 1988 | | at Tennessee | L 64-75 | 10-4 (3-2) | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN |
| Jan 23, 1988 | | Vanderbilt | L 71-75 | 10-5 (3-3) | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Jan 27, 1988 | | Alabama | W 84-74 | 11-5 (4-3) | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Jan 30, 1988 | | at Mississippi | L 66-69 | 11-6 (4-4) | C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, MS |
| Feb 3, 1988 | | LSU | L 69-78 | 11-7 (4-5) | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Feb 6, 1988 | | at No. 19 Florida | W 58-57 | 12-7 (5-5) | Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| Feb 10, 1988 | | No. 10 Kentucky | L 62-69 | 12-8 (5-6) | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Feb 13, 1988 | | Georgia | W 64-57 | 13-8 (6-6) | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Feb 17, 1988 | | at Mississippi State | W 77-61 | 14-8 (7-6) | Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Ms |
| Feb 20, 1988 | | Tennessee | W 73-68 | 15-8 (8-6) | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| Feb 24, 1988 | | at No. 17 Vanderbilt | W 81-68 | 16-8 (9-6) | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN |
| Feb 27, 1988 | | at Alabama | L 77-82 | 16-9 (9-7) | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL |
| March 2, 1988 | | Mississippi | W 92-76 | 17-9 (10-7) | Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| March 5, 1988 | | at LSU | W 89-80 | 18-9 (11-7) | Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA |
| SEC Tournament ||||||
| March 11, 1988 , JPT | (2) | vs. (7) Georgia Second Round | L 60-65 | 18-10 | Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 17, 1988* | (8 SE) | vs. (9 SE) No. 11 Bradley First Round | W 90-86 | 19-10 | The Omni Atlanta, GA |
| March 19, 1988* | (8 SE) | vs. (1 SE) No. 4 Oklahoma Second Round | L 87-107 | 19-11 | The Omni Atlanta, GA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Central. ||||||