Auburn claimed a historic win over Missouri on Tuesday night, their first ever against the recent SEC addition in Colombia. In the process, Auburn added their first conference win of the season, and looks to reverse a shaky 1-3 start in SEC play. It wasn’t pretty, but Auburn managed to hold on to the slim victory through solid defense and opportunistic scoring. Here is how each position fared in Auburn’s second SEC road trip.
GUARDS: B+
Lacking second leading scorer Danjel Purifoy, fellow freshman Mustapha Heron’s late heroics drastically improved the backcourt assessment. Heron had been MIA on offense for most the night, starting off the game an abysmal 0 for 9 from the floor. Heron finished 4 for 5 for 16 points, including 8 points in the last 5 minutes. Ronnie Johnson was the most consistent guard for the visiting Tigers, coming off the bench and playing extremely valuable minutes. Johnson shot 4 for 9 and led the visiting Tiger bench with 13 points. T.J. Dunans, who didn’t enter the Ole Miss game until the second half, made an early appearance, checking in four minutes into the contest. Dunans offensive contributions were sparse and inefficient, recording only 5 points on 2-7 shooting. Jared Harper shot only 22% coming off his breakout performance on Saturday against the Rebels, but came up clutch down the stretch, driving the lane and drawing a foul on Mizzou’s Terrence Phillips in the waning minutes. Harper drained both shots at the line to finish with 10 points. Defensively, the guards kept active hands throughout, tallying 4 steals between Harper, Brown and Johnson, against only 2 turnovers.
BIG MEN: C+
The Auburn frontcourt was handled on both ends of the glass. Missouri out-rebounded Auburn by a mark of 51-42, and dominated the offensive rebounding battle, caging 25 offensive boards to Auburn’s 15. Horace Spencer played efficiently on offense, finishing 5 for 5 from the floor for 10 points, but committed 4 turnovers. Auburn’s prowess on the defensive end proved to overpower their woes on the boards. The visitors tallied 12 blocks amid a combined 55 fouls. Despite the offensive griefs, the Auburn offense averaged a point per possession, a statistic that proved good enough to sink bottom-feeding Mizzou, but will need to improve to topple the rest of the SEC.
FINAL VERDICT
Auburn certainly didn’t dominate, but also never quit on either side of the ball. The athletic youngsters got out and ran in the open floor as they normally do. That athleticism translated to blocks on the defensive end, but turnovers on offense. The Tigers are motivated heading into their matchup with Kentucky, but will need to improve front to back to hang with the Wildcats.
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.
