Just three minutes into the game after Chad Baker-Mazara was ejected on a flagrant two foul call, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl yelled out about how a whole season of work had just been encapsulated in that play.

And a whole season of work crashed to a skidding and stunning halt Friday afternoon 2,400 miles away from Neville Arena. Auburn fell victim to another Ivy League upset, losing to No. 13 seed Yale 78-76.

Auburn nearly pulled away from Yale with a 12-2 run midway through the second half but Yale clawed back, all the way back. It took the lead with just over a minute to play and hit crucial free throws. Auburn had two different misses on the front ends of 1-and-1s from the free throw line.

It was a day where Auburn could never put away Yale.

And it bit them, ending Auburn’s season.

An SEC tournament championship cascaded into a nightmare in Spokane, Washington. Auburn’s season with 27 wins ended on the first day of the NCAA Tournament.

Here are 3 takeaways.

Auburn loses in Round of 64 for the first time, SEC struggles continue

Since the NCAA Tournament was expanded to include a Round of 64 for the first time in 1985, Auburn hasn’t lost in the first round.

Auburn did lose its first NCAA Tournament game as a No. 5 seed in 1984 but is 11-0 since expansion.

It lost for the first time since on Friday in its fall to Yale.

Auburn had only lost to a double-digit seed twice in the NCAA Tournament before: No. 12 Richmond in 1984 and No. 10 Miami in 2022.

Based on seeding alone, this is Auburn’s worst loss in NCAA Tournament history.

The SEC has struggled mightily thus far in the NCAA Tournament. Four SEC teams played on Thursday and only Tennessee won. No. 3 seed Kentucky was upset in a stunner by No. 14 seed Oakland.

The SEC is 1-5 after Auburn and Florida both lost, too.

A beloved team meets an abrupt end

Take a scroll through social media to quickly find out what fans thought about this Auburn team. Many have described it as their favorite Auburn team ever under Pearl. It’s because of the way these teammates danced before games and talked about a genuinely supportive team chemistry. It’s what made the depth of this team work out.

It was a team that was a trendy pick to advance to the Final Four in a brutally difficult East Region.

And it fell out of the NCAA Tournament after 40 minutes.

It’s a harshly abrupt end for Auburn. There are only two guaranteed departures: Jaylin Williams and Lior Berman. There are several other players who took part in Senior Day festivities who now have a decision to make including Broome, Chris Moore, KD Johnson and Dylan Cardwell.

Broome is expected to depart for the NBA.

The transfer portal is also already open. Because it still had March Madness games to play, Auburn had not yet seen any portal entrants. There are reports it has already reached out to several players in the transfer portal already.

Changes are coming.

Chad Baker-Mazara ejected on a flagrant 2 foul

Chad Baker-Mazara was called for a Flagrant 2 foul at the 16:59 to play mark in the first half. Auburn had gotten out to a hot start. Baker-Mazara tossed his elbow toward a Yale player as Auburn ran back down the court.

Officials reviewed the play and determined it warranted a Flagrant 2 foul, which would eject Baker-Mazara from the game.

Yale got right back in the game with a 12-4 spurt after the ejection to take an 18-16 lead. It was a call that began a sense of frustration and allowed Yale to be in the game for, well, the rest of it. It turned what started out as a game where Auburn might run away with it into a nervous one around the Plains.

Baker-Mazara quickly responded on social media after he was tossed. He initially posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing “Lmao yall lame” before deleting the post and then followed up with something a bit more encouraging.

Matt Cohen covers sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]