It Turns Out Opie-Dokie for Auburn

They’ll never believe this one down at Goober’s fillin’ station.

Or Malibu.

Scott Pohlman, who got the nickname Opie because of boyish-looking face and mop-top hair and nearly went to Pepperdine because no one else wanted him, Saturday afternoon took his 40.1% accuracy and shot Auburn into the Sweet 16. So help us, Barney Fife.

Pohlman made 11 of 17 shots, including a 12-footer in the lane with 52 seconds left for what became the decisive basket, and scored a career-high 28 points to lead Auburn to an 81-74 victory over Oklahoma State in the second round of the South Regional at the RCA Dome and make Coach Cliff Ellis look like a genius.

Not for giving Pohlman a prominent role, for that had been the case all along. The sophomore guard has started all 32 games for the top-seeded team in the South Regional. But for giving Pohlman a scholarship.

Not that that was the original plan. Pohlman, from Roswell, Ga., had all but committed to Pepperdine as a high school senior. Georgia had shown only passing interest. Georgia Tech hadn’t shown any. He was hearing from a lot of Division II and small Division I schools, until Auburn’s offer in March, which also allowed him to stay close to home.

On Saturday, with star forward Chris Porter looking nothing like the SEC player of the year for the second game in a row, and with point guard Doc Robinson limited to 24 minutes because of foul trouble, Pohlman was starring in something other than a television program.

Count some of his teammates among the surprised.

“Oh, yeah,” center Mamadou N’diaye said. “I was.”

The first-round victory over Winthrop offered at least a little advanced notice. Pohlman, who shot 39.4% before the tournament, went three for five on three-point shots and four for eight overall. But that was hardly a sign of things to come.

Then he made five of his first eight shots against Oklahoma State (23-11), keeping Auburn (29-3) ahead at halftime as Porter missed four of his first six. It was only the beginning.

“When you let a guy get started,” Cowboy Coach Eddie Sutton said, “then all of the sudden the basket looks like an ocean.”

The one near Malibu, for example.

“I don’t know what it was,” Pohlman said. “I was just getting good looks at [the basket]. I don’t know how to explain it.”

The second half, then, would confound him even more.

Consecutive baskets--both inside jobs-- gave Auburn a a 56-51 lead. When the margin was still five, and with Robinson on the bench with four fouls, Pohlman--now the the point guard--made a three-point shot. Two possessions later, a straight-away two-pointer with 6:08 remaining. The Auburn lead was suddenly at 67-57.

“Pohlman ran me to death today,” Oklahoma State guard Doug Gottlieb said. “He played a tremendous basketball game. He moved without the ball. Obviously, he was feeling it, and he got some good looks. He hit big shots, and every time he got open, it seemed like he hit the shot.”

He got open with about a minute to play, after the Cowboys had cut their deficit to 74-72. He was cutting down the lane when N’diaye, on the left perimeter, spotted Pohlman and passed to him.

Pohlman pulled up and released. When it went in with 52 seconds left, it started a streak in which the Tigers would score the final nine points. Unfortunately, two of those were for Oklahoma State when Porter, going for a defensive rebound, inadvertentlytipped in the ball.

“I was a little frustrated, I must say,” said Porter, who finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. “But it was one in a million. . . . I can laugh about it now.”

Not so much at the same. That basket, which officially became part of Adrian Peterson’s 27 points for the Cowboys, got Oklahoma State (23-11) within 76-74.

But when N’diaye made the front end of a one-and-one with 29 seconds left and Bryant Smith was fouled going for the offensive rebound and converted both free throws, Auburn (29-3) was back in control. It was 79-74, leaving only Pohlman to make two free throws after being fouled with 13 seconds remaining.