True freshman Jared Harper led the Auburn men's basketball team to their first true road win, and sixth win of the season, against UAB in Birmingham on Saturday night.
Head coach Bruce Pearl and the Tigers played in front of a sold out Bartow Arena and struggled in the first half, but Auburn pulled out a 74-70 victory.
Size was an issue for the young Auburn squad once again, as the Tigers were out rebounded 41-30 and were bullied in the paint at times. Harper and his guards were forced to win the game outside of the paint, and hit 11 of 27 shots from behind the arc.
Harper had a career night scoring 21 points, behind five three pointers in the first half. The freshman point guard also accounted for five rebounds and three assists. Freshman guards Danjel Purifoy and Mustapha Heron were also pivotal in the victory scoring 16 and 11 points in the contest. All of Heron's points came in the second half.
“I thought we got great point guard play,” Pearl said. “We had 19 points off turnovers and I thought that was a key, and the fact that Jared Harper and Ronnie Johnson played so well.
“From the point guards we got 29 points, three assists, one turnover and three steals. That’s a good line.”
UAB (4-4) led by four at the half and were receiving production from William Lee, Dirk Williams and Hakeem Baxter. Lee led the way with 13 points and six rebounds.
Auburn proved to be too much in the second half and went on a 16-4 run out of the break. The Tigers led by as much as 11 with under seven minutes to play, but the Blazers cut the lead to three in the final minute. Crucial free throws from Purifoy and Harper sealed the victory.
“How about this," Pearl said. "It’s Saturday in December, the SEC Championship is being played in Atlanta and we’ve got one of the best environments for college basketball in the country in Birmingham, Alabama tonight. That tells you a lot about Auburn and a lot about UAB and their great history.
“The fact that there were 2-3,000 Auburn fans in this building tonight. Unbelievable. We don't win here tonight without those 3,000. I’m so glad that our Auburn fans are walking around Birmingham with their chests out.”
Auburn is now 6-1 for the first time since 2011-2012. Pearl and the Tigers have a week's rest before heading to Madison Square Garden to take on Boston College on Dec. 12.
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