HONOLULU, HAWAII---If you are a fan of scoring spurts, guards producing point totals in the high twenties and low thirties, and high-flying dunks, then Tuesday's Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic opening quarterfinal between the Auburn Tigers and New Mexico Lobos was the game for you.

Making his first four attempts, three of which were treys, one of New Mexico's "stud sophomores" Cullen Neal heated up quickly in the Stan Sherriff Center for he produced 11 points to give the Lobos a 16-10 advantage. Following his big contribution, Neal passed the scoring baton on to fellow "stud sophomore" and leading scorer Elijah Brown, who posted five points to keep their advantage at the same size.

However, despite the early success of New Mexico's stars, Auburn double-double machine Cinmeon Bowers supplied five of a 7-0 run, which stole a one-point lead for the Tigers (20-19). A few minutes later, Auburn's edge would be built to eight (31-23) on a five-point swing (Bowers' blocked shot on Neal leading to a run out and triple from Jordan Granger) that would be smack dab in the middle of a 9-0 spurt. 

The eight point distance between the two (in favor of Auburn) would stay as such until the Lobos' Brown tickled the twine again from downtown right before the half to cut his team's deficit to five (3 of his 20 first-half points).

Coming out of intermission, a swift 17-6 run, topped off with an ally oop slam by Obij Aget from Neal, propelled Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl to burn a timeout down six with 16:13 left in the half (53-47).

Were the Lobos really going to run away to the semi-finals?

Not exactly! Like a pack of Tigers getting thrown a fresh piece of meat, Auburn pounced back into the game with a 12-5 run, spurred by a Granger ally oop dunk and Kareem Canty getting his offensive motor running, that put them up 59-55.

Though the Lobos ripped back the lead with ten straight points, four of which came from Tim Williams, Canty brought his team storming back with a triple as well as a nice dribble penetration to get teammate T.J. Dunans wide open for a triple of his own. 66 all! 

From there (6:47 left in regulation) to just under the one minute mark, Auburn and New Mexico traded haymakers until Kareem Canty nailed a contested step back three-pointer with 26.3 seconds remaining to put the Tigers up 79-75. With only one timeout, Cullen Neal rushed the ball up court. Unfortunately for him, he was double teamed once reaching the three-point line, resulting in a Dunans steal that turned into an ally oop to Bowers! 81-75 Auburn!

Swiftly on two passes, the Lobos' Elijah Brown had the ball in his hands from beyond the arc. Splash! 81-78 Tigers! 

Following a timeout by New Mexico, they fouled T.J. Dunans in the hope he would miss both free throws (11 seconds). Clank! Swish! 4-point game! Again Neal pushing the ball up court, he recklessly threw a pass that caused Brown to step out-of-bounds with only four tics remaining. Bruce Pearl's Auburn Tigers were moving on to the semi-finals.

Opening a Can of Canty

Unlike against Xavier last Saturday, Kareem Canty did not immediately find his shooting touch. In fact, the Marshall transfer began his time in Honolulu with zero makes in his first four attempts and only three in his first ten! However, it is never how you start but how you finish, for he came alive with 19 second half points on six of eleven shooting! While T.J. Dunans' performance of 20 points cannot be overlooked, if Canty would not have come alive in the second half, the Tigers would have found themselves waking up in the loser's bracket. Auburn will take on Harvard, who upset BYU, for a spot in the 2015 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game on Wednesday.

"Stud Sophomores" Shooting the Lights Out

Single-handedly keeping New Mexico afloat in the first half by netting all but two points, sophomores Cullen Neal and Elijah Brown left the arena today having supplied a grand total of 54 points. Moreover, while Neal had a very good 21 point game, Brown netted a career high 33 thanks to six makes from beyond the arc. Nonetheless, for Craig Neal's squad to have their best two players combine for 50+ points and end up losing has to be frustrating. Yet, a big reason they did fall in defeat is the number of turnovers allowed (22), more specifically 9 of them coming from the dynamic duo. The turnover count must be lower when the Lobos take on Kyle Collinsworth's BYU Cougars for them to have any chance of avoiding the seventh place game and a second loss in two days.