Hardly half an hour after it had all improbably crashed to an end, after Yale guard August Mahoney climbed on the media table to look out across Spokane Arena and the bracket damage he’d just authored, Tre Donaldson sat back in his Auburn locker room chair.

He leaned back, the two front legs of his chair lifted off the ground. His head rested against the white, cinder block wall. Donaldson is often on his phone in the locker room. On this Friday afternoon, he didn’t touch it. He stared blankly across the locker room he’d only occupy for one game after a stunning 78-76 upset to No. 13-seeded Yale. His face showed no emotion. Just a stunned gaze.

He was one man in a normally buzzing Auburn locker room reduced to silence this afternoon. It was sullen. It was shocked. Forward Johni Broome sat down next to Donaldson. He’d done all he could with 24 points and 13 rebounds. It wasn’t enough.

Forward Jaylin Williams came into the locker room slowly. Saddened. He’s the winningest player in Auburn history.

His career is over.

After the game, he said he texted his mom, “I’m sorry.”

Williams’ mom started a live video on Facebook after the game. She cried.

This No. 4-seeded Auburn team was grappling with a season highlighted by a jubilant Nashville celebration of an SEC title not even a week ago to a stunningly sudden upset loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Spokane, Washington.

Head coach Bruce Pearl called it “one of the most disappointing losses in (his) career.”

Auburn’s season with 27 wins ended with a short stay. It’s Auburn’s first-ever loss in the Round of 64 after winning its previous 11 trips. Based on seeding alone, it’s Auburn’s worst March Madness loss ever. Previously, that had been a loss to No. 12 Richmond in 1984. No. 13 seed Yale in 2024 taking down an SEC-championship-winning team is now the new holder.

The locker rooms are all nearby at Spokane Arena. Auburn’s locker room is right next to Alabama’s. Just down the tunnel is Yale’s. The music from Yale’s celebration blasted through the walls and down the hallways into Auburn’s locker room.

A somber scene now able to hear the joy they’d planned for themselves passed down the tunnel.

“Really just shocked,” center Dylan Cardwell said. “It didn’t feel real, as far as the season ending like that, especially for people like Lior (Berman) and J-Will. We didn’t do them justice.”

After Cardwell spoke, Williams came back to the locker room. Cardwell has a chance to come back. He hasn’t decided yet. Williams can’t. This was it.

Williams said his mom responded to his text and told him not to worry. He said that’s when it hit him: he realized he’s more than just a basketball player. But he’s not sure exactly what will come next.

“This game didn’t end how we wanted, but hopefully we still stick together and I still stay in contact with those guys,” Williams said. “Still good friends. Do everything we usually do. Again, this is family. Auburn is family, and it always will be.”

Williams’ teammates felt bad for him. None of them wanted his record-setting Auburn career to end like this.

“You hurt for guys like J-Will,” forward Chaney Johnson said of his teammate. “This is his last year, this is his last run. An SEC champ. You want to go all the way for the guys like him, and for the rest of the guys on the team. But we just didn’t get the job done. Not really much more we could do right now. Just go back to Auburn, recuperate and get ready for next year.”

“It was tough, obviously you don’t want to go out that way,” Carter Sobera said. “At the end of the day, I’m still standing behind these guys. But a couple missed opportunities and now we’re here.”

Sobera earned a scholarship this year after spending three seasons as a walk-on. He can come back next year. He hasn’t yet decided.

Guard Denver Jones came back to the locker room from speaking at Auburn’s press conference and immediately put his headphones on. His face showed the same surprise of his teammates. Many others didn’t come out of the bathroom or side office at all.

This team that flew 2,400 miles across the country will go right back home after one game. There’s a future to think about. That time isn’t here yet. This team that was so beloved by Auburn fans for their fun on and off the court, for winning 26 of 27 games by double digits, for a thrilling run that will still be encapsulated with an SEC Tournament banner, all of it ended so fast two time zones away.

Broome tossed the hood of his white sweatshirt over his head. He declined questions from reporters. He looked down at his phone. Several of his teammates came up to him to give him hugs. He obliged to those. It might be the last time they’re all a team together.

They don’t know if Broome will be back, either.

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