Overshadowed in the insane sequence at the end of the Auburn-New Mexico State game on Thursday was a singular bizarre sight and a story in itself:
As New Mexico State’s Terrell Brown stepped to the line for three free throws with 1.1 seconds left and his team trailing 78-76, Auburn’s J’Von McCormick stood alongside him and repeatedly clutched his throat in a choke gesture.
Brown, a 78-percent shooter from the line, missed two of three — just as McCormick brazenly figured he could coax along.
“I just saw the fear in his eyes …,” McCormick said, sitting alone at his locker Friday as the fifth-seeded Tigers prepared to take on No.