Auburn basketball will finish its opening March Madness matchup against 13 seed Yale one man down.

At the 16:59 mark of the the first half of Friday's first-round game of the NCAA Tournament against 13 seed Yale, Tigers junior guard Chad Baker-Mazara was called for a foul after elbowing Yale senior guard August Mahoney as both went down the court following an Auburn made basket. Baker-Mazara's foul was assessed as a flagrant 2 foul and resulted in the 6-foot-7 guard being ejected and removed for the remainder of the game.

REQUIRED READING: Auburn's Bruce Pearl says Chad Baker-Mazara's Flagrant 2 was 'retaliation' after Yale hit

During TNT's in-studio halftime show, former Auburn and NBA star forward Charles Barkley discussed the foul alongside Kenny Smith, Clark Kellogg and Adam Zucker. Similarly to Auburn coach Bruce Pearl's immediate reaction to the foul, Barkley said he did not like the call of the foul being a flagrant 2.

"I think it's different if he had went above the shoulders (with the contact). ... It was a bad decision," Barkley said during halftime on TNT. "I just thought he shouldn't have got tossed because he didn't head-hunt. Was he trying to intimidate? Probably, but it was a body shot, not a headshot. I think those are two different things. ... We've got to just be careful because you can't do stupid things that are going to affect the next game."

Auburn, a 4 seed in this year's tournament, led the Bulldogs 41-34 at halftime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Baker-Mazara left the game with one rebound and an assist. If the Tigers can hold onto the win and advance, it will take on 5 seed San Diego State on Sunday, March 24 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Charles Barkley on Chad Baker-Mazara flagrant 2 foul: 'Shouldn't have gotten tossed'