Graduate assistant Frankie Sullivan spent most of the second half of Auburn’s win over Northwestern State running up and down the Tigers’ bench.
He was attempting to hold back the Auburn players who, along with the crowd of 8,529, erupted in celebration following each of the Tigers’ 27 made field goals in the second half.
Auburn dropped the fourth-most points and second-most three-point field goals in program history Friday night, downing Northwestern State 119-81.
Six Tigers scored in double digits, and Auburn scored 72 points in the second half, which equaled the total the Demons scored in Auburn Arena in the second half in 2013.
While coach Bruce Pearl was pleased with his team’s scoring output, he was not pleased with the overall performance.
“I don’t know that we built on last week’s defensive performance,” Pearl said. “This week we were just very unorganized, and we did not value our possessions in the first half.”
Auburn turned the ball over 14 times in the first half, which equaled the team’s season-high for a game. Despite the turnovers, Auburn led by 10 at halftime in part because of Cinmeon Bower’s 14 first-half points.
The Tigers’ offense began to catch fire at the end of the first half, as Auburn made 10 of its final 14 shots.
The hot streak continued for the rest of the game. The Tigers made 11 consecutive shots over a 4:43 span in the second half, and they went 10 of 13 from the field over another second-half stretch.
“In transition we were awfully good, and you can see when the game gets going, we got some weapons,” Pearl said. “But our execution in the halfcourt, particularly offensively in the second half, was awful.”
T.J. Dunans was held scoreless in the first half, but he erupted for 20 points in the second half, including four of the Tigers’ 17 three-pointers.
“T.J. Dunans, I need him to play great when he’s not scoring,” Pearl said. “When he’s scoring, he’s playing great. But I need him to play great when he’s not scoring, and if I can get him to do that we’re going to be pretty good.”
Dunans tied with true freshman Bryce Brown for the team lead in threes. Brown played his first full game in Auburn’s rotation, as he has struggled to regain his minutes after serving an NCAA suspension in the season opener.
“You could see how (Brown) could score. He can really score,” Pearl said. “And he’s working hard defensively. I think Bryce has got really good upside. I was really pleased with his effort.”
The big win did not come without a cost.
Tahj Shamsid-Deen, playing in his third game since returning from a dislocated right shoulder, dislocated the same shoulder in the first half.
Shamsid-Deen, who has suffered four shoulder injuries in his Auburn career, was seen with a large ice wrap on his shoulder after the game. He will meet with Dr. James Andrews on Saturday to determine how serious the injury is, but Pearl said he was “really concerned.”
“Tahj is like a leader,” Dunans said. “He help us on defense. He’s the guy we feed off on defense, so it’s gone hurt us a lot, but other guys got to step up and play. Losing Tahj is big to us.”
While the Tigers lost Shamsid-Deen, they gained a third win, rewriting the Auburn record books in the process.
“We scored 72 points and shot 69 percent [from the field] in the second half, so you can see that there’s some hope, and there’s some things to look forward to,” Pearl said. “I think our fans came in, and they were entertained. We’re entertaining. We’re just not very solid.”
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
