Auburn basketball went into Mississippi State’s basketball arena Saturday and defeated the Bulldogs 80-68. It was no small victory because wins in Humphrey Coliseum are hard to come by. In fact, the Tigers only have two other road wins in Starkville since 2001.
To be sure it was a strong test for the No. 8 Tigers. With Guard Robert Woodard II at 6-foot-7, forward Reggie Perry at 6-foot-10; and forward Abdul Ado at 6-11, the Bulldogs are the second-largest team in the country. Bruce Pearl called them a, “Monster team” this week and said he fully expects State to be an NCAA Tourney team in the post season.
It was a hard fought game for Auburn, especially in the first half as the Tigers had to depend on defense to keep pace with the tall dogs (9-3). Auburn began the game shooting poorly missing 22 of its first 25 shots to fall behind 18-9 and then misfiring on eleven straight 3 point attempts before storming back in the second half to secure their first SEC win of the season.
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said after the game that, “Everybody contributed,” However, 78 of the 80 points were scored by the five starters with point guard J’Von McCormick leading the way with a career high 28 points followed by Isaac Okoro with16, Samir Doughty 13, Danjel Purifoy 11 and Austin Wiley 10.
The win marked the 25th victory for the Tigers in the last 26 games dating back to last season and it was the 13th of this year making Auburn one of only two undefeated teams in the nation. “That’s big for us, starting off SEC play 1-0,” McCormick said. “Coming here, knowing we were going to be faced with a challenge.”
Although MCCormick’s 20 second half points were crucial, Coach Pearl said his defense may have had an even bigger impact on the game. “He is leading our team [in every area],” said the coach. “We gave him the keys to the car and he drove it”
The point guard told reporters after the game that beating Mississippi State, “Is big for us going into SEC. Coming out of here 1-0 knowing we were going to be faced with a challenge of everybody trying to take our heads off … it’s just good,”
Pearl’s Tigers will be back in the Auburn Arena Wednesday to play Vanderbilt in their SEC home opener. If you’re in the area, come out and support the Tigers as they try to make it 14-0. War Eagle and …
Beat Vandy!
The post Auburn Basketball at 13-0 is One of Only Two Undefeated Teams in the Nation appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.
from Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog http://trackemtigers.com/auburn-basketball-at-13-0-is-one-of-only-two-undefeated-teams-in-the-nation/
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