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1985–86 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
1985–86 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
Red Lobster Classic champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	22–11 (13–5 SEC)
Head coach	Sonny Smith (8th season);
Home arena	Memorial Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Kentucky †	17	–	1	.944	32	–	4	.889
Alabama	13	–	5	.722	24	–	9	.727
Auburn	13	–	5	.722	22	–	11	.667
Florida	10	–	8	.556	19	–	14	.576
LSU	9	–	9	.500	26	–	12	.684
Georgia	9	–	9	.500	17	–	13	.567
Vanderbilt	7	–	11	.389	13	–	15	.464
Tennessee	5	–	13	.278	12	–	16	.429
Ole Miss	4	–	14	.222	12	–	17	.414
Mississippi State	3	–	15	.167	6	–	22	.214

† 1986 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985–86 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University in the 1985–86 college basketball season. The team's head coach was Sonny Smith, who was in his eighth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 22–11, 13–5 in SEC play. They lost to Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Arizona, St. John's, and UNLV to advance to the Elite Eight where they lost to Louisville.^[1]

The only real loss of note from the prior season for Auburn was starting center Carey Holland. Also, center Darren Guest would be found academically ineligible and eventually transfer. Key additions were freshman forward Mike Jones and guard Aundrae Davis, a sophomore transfer from West Virginia University who would not be eligible until the next season. Senior Chuck Person would have a stellar season and make several All-America teams.

Roster

1985–86 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	45	Chuck Person	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Sr	Brantley High School	Brantley, AL
G	15	Frank Ford	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Jr	Osceola High School	Kissimmee, Florida
F	34	Chris Morris	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Frederick Douglass High School	Atlanta, Georgia
F	13	Mike Jones	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Fr	Columbus, Georgia
C	40	Jeff Moore	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So	Midfield High School	Midfield, Alabama
G	12	Gerald White	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Jr	Richmond Academy	Augusta, Georgia
G	10	Terrence Howard	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	So	Southwest High School	Southwest, AL
G	14	Johnny Lynn	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So	Beech High School	Hendersonville, Tennessee
F	31	Vern Strickland	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Sr	Emma Sansom High School	Gadsden, Alabama
G	11	Melvin Haralson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Fr	Jackson, Mississippi
F	25	Gary Godfrey	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr	North Shore High School	North Palm Beach, Florida

Head coach

Sonny Smith (Milligan)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 22, 1985*	No. 10	vs. West Virginia Big Apple NIT	L 58-75	0-1	Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT
Nov 26, 1985*	No. 19	Birmingham-Southern	W 61-51	1-1	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Dec 3, 1985*	No. 19	West Virginia	W 84-59	2-1	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Dec 6, 1985*	No. 19	vs. Kentucky Wesleyan Wendy's Classic	W 80-71	3-1	E.A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
Dec 7, 1985*	No. 19	vs. Western Kentucky Wendy's Classic	L 58-71	3-2	E.A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
Dec 10, 1985*		at No. 16 UAB	L 56-62	3-3	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (15,502) Birmingham, AL
Dec 14, 1985*		vs. Stetson	W 77-54	4-3	Ocean Center Daytona Beach, FL
Dec 17, 1985*		at Southwestern Louisiana	L 64-66	4-4	Cajundome Lafayette, LA
Dec 22, 1985*		vs. Central Florida Red Lobster Classic	W 78-49	5-4	Orange County Civic Center Orlanda, FL
Dec 23, 1985*		vs. Boston College Red Lobster Classic	W 89-85	6-4	Orange County Civic Center Orlanda, FL
Jan 4, 1986		at Florida	L 59-62	6-5 (0-1)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
Jan 6, 1986		No. 11 Kentucky	W 60-56	7-5 (1-1)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Jan 8, 1986		Tennessee	W 55-45	8-5 (2-1)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Jan 11, 1986		at Mississippi State	W 72-56	9-5 (3-1)	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, MS
Jan 16, 1986		at Alabama	L 56-60	9-6 (3-2)	Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL
Jan 18, 1986		Georgia	W 84-69	10-6 (4-2)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Jan 22, 1986		at Mississippi	W 73-61	11-6 (5-2)	C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, MS
Jan 25, 1986		No. 14 LSU	L 61-63	11-7 (5-3)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Jan 29, 1986		Vanderbilt	W 97-70	12-7 (6-3)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Jan 31, 1986		at No. 8 Kentucky	L 71-81	12-8 (6-4)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
Feb 6, 1986		Florida	W 67-65	13-8 (7-4)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Feb 8, 1986		at Tennessee	L 79-80	13-9 (7-5)	Stokely Center Knoxville, TN
Feb 12, 1986		Mississippi State	W 69-64	14-9 (8-5)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Feb 15, 1986		No. 18 Alabama	W 71-69	15-9 (9-5)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Feb 19, 1986		at Georgia	W 87-86	16-9 (10-5)	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA
Feb 22, 1986		Mississippi	W 75-73	17-9 (11-5)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL
Feb 26, 1986		at LSU	W 92-86	18-9 (12-5)	Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
March 1, 1986		at Vanderbilt	W 79-65	19-9 (13-5)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN
SEC Tournament
Mar 6, 1986 LSN	(2)	vs. (10) Mississippi State Quarterfinals	L 63–65	19–10	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1986*	(8 W)	vs. (9 W) Arizona First round	W 73–63	20–10	Long Beach Arena Long Beach, California
Mar 16, 1986*	(8 W)	vs. (1 W) No. 4 St. John's Second Round	W 81–65	21–10	Long Beach Arena Long Beach, California
Mar 20, 1986* CBS	(8 W)	vs. (4 W) No. 11 UNLV West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 70–63	22–10	The Summit Houston, Texas
Mar 22, 1986* CBS	(8 W)	vs. (2 W) No. 7 Louisville West Regional Final – Elite Eight	L 76–84	22–11	The Summit Houston, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.