Lebo's Lunatics looked as if they had been practicing during the off season as their added loony behavior helped push Auburn Men's Basketball to a large victory over Division II Miles College in a preseason matchup at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Friday.
Auburn made 14-of-32 shots from 3-point range as the Tigers cruised to an 87-40 win.
Senior guard Tay Waller scored a game-high 15 points, making 5-of-7 3-pointers.
Senior forward Lucas Hargrove added 13 points and senior guard DeWayne Reed had 11 points and five assists.
"In the first half, we just needed to get the jitters out," Waller said. "We weren't playing good defense in the first half. I think in the second half, we got our heads together and came out and played pretty well. The defense and the offense both started working well in the second half."
Waller said the team continues to need work making the easy points, as the team was 9-of-21 from the free-throw line.
"We just need to build confidence from the free-throw line," Waller said. "No matter how much you work in practice, you never know how you are gonna be under pressure until game time. We really need to change our mindset from the free-throw line."
Head coach Jeff Lebo was pleased with the team's opening performance, having lost a number of starters and seniors last season.
"I thought that we shot the ball much better in the second half," Lebo said. "We defended better too. We had a good start in the second half. Some of the young kids were a little jittery to start, which was to be expected, but I thought they settled down in the second half."
Zac Etheridge, the recently injured Auburn football player, was in attendance at the game and was treated to cheers and a standing ovation from the 3,780 fans inside the coliseum.
All 15 team members saw time on the court and 12 of them scored.
Lebo said he is still finalizing who will be starting on the court come the season opener.
"We're still trying to figure out who's going to be in it," Lebo said. "We've got five that I know for sure. The other ones we're not quite sure yet."
Lebo was complimentary of many of the new players' moments on the court.
Freshman guard Earnest Ross had eight points and seven rebounds off the bench, and freshman guard Andre Malone scored nine points and had seven rebounds.
Walk-on freshman guard Josh Wallace added five points and five assists.
"We had a lot of guys sitting along that bench," Lebo said. "I thought our depth really bothered them, especially in the second half."
Students in attendance were excited about the big score line and the flurry of shots Auburn was making.
"This is what I have always known Auburn could do," said Gatlin Thornberry, sophomore in biosystems engineering. "Yeah, the missed free throws are unfortunate, but the depth of the team this year is just awesome, and I look forward to this season. A lot of people are gonna feel us on that court."
The men's team will play its final season opener in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Friday against Niagara University.
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