As if having the SEC’s leader in shots blocked out wasn’t enough, Auburn tipped off against Alabama without its second-leading scorer, Mustapha Heron.
While Anfernee McLemore’s season-ending injury was suffered over the weekend in a loss at South Carolina, Heron’s absence (flu) was announced just prior to game time, leaving the Tigers with only seven scholarship players on the active list.
In the team’s previous matchup with Alabama this year, Auburn had all its starters. Alabama was the injury-plagued unit, with Collin Sexton out and Donta Hall still not 100 percent. But Wednesday night at Auburn Arena, health was on the side of the Tide.
Despite a severely shorthanded roster, it didn’t matter to Bruce Pearl.
Behind a stellar opening half from Jared Harper and breakout performances from Chuma Okeke and Malik Dunbar, Auburn crushed Alabama, 90-71.
Harper lit a fuse in Auburn Arena early by directing an early 14-2 lead for the Tigers, which was quickly doused by foul trouble for new starters Horace Spencer and Malik Dunbar.
Without Spencer’s defensive prowess on the floor, Alabama remained within striking distance for most of the half, trailing by only five at the break despite Harper’s 16 points at the break.
When the second half began, Spencer and Dunbar were on the floor. Both picked up their third foul with less than a minute played, further thinning the Auburn lineup.
Insert the freshman phenoms.
Okeke electrified Auburn in the second half, dropping a double-double with a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“The only one holding Chuma Okeke back is me,” Pearl said. “He can play. He really stepped up.”
Pearl said postgame that his fellow coaches were urging him to give Okeke the ball.
“He’s terrific,” Pearl said. “He asks ‘coach, what do you want me to do?’ Most freshman, they want balloons, they want streamers, they want shots. He’s good enough and talented enough to start on most teams.”
Fellow first-year Tiger Davion Mitchell finished with 8 points, including six from back-to-back triples to put Auburn up 15 with 7:12 remaining.
“I’m not sure there’s a better environment anywhere in college basketball,” Pearl said. “We did what we had to do. We got off to a good start, we hit them in the mouth early.”
Dunbar pitched in with 14 points, eight of which came in the final 20 minutes.
As is now custom at Auburn home games, the Tiger offense snowballed as the contest came to a close. This climaxed with a series that blew the top off Auburn Arena: a vicious slam by Okeke, followed by Bryce Brown’s 4-point play bid, and concluding with Mitchell’s coast-to-coast score.
Brown, who is “still not 100 percent” according to Bruce Pearl, scored 18 points with a lowly 3-for-14 clip from three.
Because Sexton sat out the first game between the in-state rivals, Wednesday served as Harper’s first chance to match up with his high school teammate, who led all scorers with 25.
While Harper was directing the No. 1 team in the SEC to a rout of their bitter rival, his old friend wasn’t on his mind.
“I just want to come out every game and prove that I’m one of the best guards in the country,” Harper said. “It doesn’t matter who the matchup is. I come out every game to prove to everybody what I’m capable of doing.”
After Tennessee’s home win over Florida, the Volunteers (20-7, 10-5 SEC) are the only team remaining that can challenge Auburn (24-4, 12-3 SEC) for the conference’s regular season crown.
"It's just special," Pearl said. "It's special beyond compare. This team is trying to make history. We have a long way to go, but I can't deny that what we are seeing is rare. This combination of grit and determination, resiliency, family -- it's all right here."
With three games left, Auburn will travel to Florida this Saturday, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. CT.
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