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Auburn’s first attempt to leave Alabama for Houston on Friday was delayed after a fight between teammates on the plane forced the aircraft back to the ground for safety. But its second attempt Friday evening — without freshman forward Jahki Howard and senior forward Ja’Heim Hudson — got off the ground without a hitch, and was symbolic of a big weekend for the No. 11 Tigers flying high in college basketball that culminated after downing No. 4 Houston 74-69 on Saturday.
“I’m so happy for our fans and our families,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “The guys came together. I couldn’t be prouder of them.
“It takes everybody,” Pearl added, despite leaving the two players who got into a brouhaha at home. Then he hit us with a kicker: “This is going to be one happy ride home.”
So what happened with the not-so-happy first ride to Houston?
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported Friday that there was “a physical altercation between players, which prompted the pilot to abandon the flight plan.” The Fox affiliate in Birmingham reported that audio obtained from air traffic control said a “bunch” of basketball players were “fighting.”
To what extent there was a fight remains unclear and Auburn has not provided much detail into the matter. However, the team was clearly able to shake it off, and star center Johni Broome mostly downplayed the impact of the events postgame after he scored 20 points.
“You know, stuff happens,” Broome said. “But at the end of the day, we came here to play basketball. Everybody was locked in with each other. We were our brother’s keeper. We have a strong family here, and we came out here and won that basketball game.”
On Instagram Live after the game, Dylan Cardwell quipped: “When you lock a bunch of dogs on a plane, what did you expect to happen?”
Meanwhile, freshman Tahaad Pettiford had a similar response in explaining how the Tigers — who were an underdog in the game — were able to swoop into enemy territory and escape with a win.
“We prepared for this. We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” he said. “Coach always tells us to be ready when your time comes, and tonight was my time.”
Neither Pearl nor any of the other players added any other comments regarding the first failed flight and the fight that prompted the return home. As of now the status of Howard and Hudson — who played 20 and 15 minutes, respectively, in the season-opener — remains unclear. Auburn hosts Kent State on Wednesday. It’s unlikely it celebrates an inevitable win over the Golden Flashes the way it did over the Cougars.
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