Junior guard Chris Denson has been spending a little more time than he'd like in the training room.
"The trainer calls me his best friend," Denson said. "I'm in the training room all the time."
Denson suffered a stress fracture in his left foot sometime in late December. The exact time of his injury is unknown, but he was held to just eight points versus Illinois on Dec. 28.
Denson combined to go 0-for-8 from the field with one point in his first two games back from injury.
"I probably shouldn't have played them these last two games," Barbee said of Denson and freshman guard Jordan Price, who also suffered a stress fracture in his foot. "They're saying they're ready, but as I watch them on tape they weren't ready physically in just terms of being in-game sharp, ready."
In his third game back, Denson scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and seemed to be on his way back to full health.
And then he hurt his right ankle.
No worries, though. He just used the same foot brace for the stress fracture in his left foot and switched it to his right foot.
"(My) foot is getting better," Denson said. "I don't know what it is, but two days ago I rolled my right ankle, so I got my boot on my right ankle now instead of my left one. It didn't really affect me against Georgia. I'm fine."
Denson is still not 100 percent, but he has been one of the Tiger's best players during another underwhelming season for the team.
"He's played well. He's played as good as he's played since he's been here," Barbee said. "It was unfortunate, the injury that he had and the time that it came at, 'cause he was playing as good as anybody on the team. It was a big setback for him and for us."
On top of missing time with an injury, Denson missed the first seven games of the season after being ruled academically ineligible.
Even with being tossed in and out of the lineup throughout the season, Denson is still producing at a high level.
Denson is averaging a career-best in scoring and rebounds, scoring 11.7 points and grabbing 3.1 boards per game.
He's also getting to the foul line often, averaging 5.8 free-throw attempts per game. Denson has drawn 7 fouls per 40 minutes, according to Ken Pomeroy, which would rank first in the SEC if Denson had played enough minutes to qualify.
Denson has improved his passing and has a 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio to show for it. While that may not seem like much, consider he had a negative turnover-to-assist ratio last season, when he averaged 1.1 assists and 1.4 turnovers per game.
Denson admits he's not going to light it up from three, but he brings slashing ability to the Auburn offense. He's quick, shifty and always seems to be in the paint fighting for the ball.
Despite being in and out of the lineup all season, Denson has been able to be productive without establishing much of a rhythm.
"It's hard," Denson said. "I know my sophomore and freshman year, they called me the microwave guy, coming off the bench and creating a spark. But becoming a junior, I started starting, and I like the rhythm coming the game and not waiting like I used to.
"Coming in, I like to start the game instead of just coming in like I used to and gotta catch up to how everybody else is playing. I came back the Georgia game and started. I definitely like that better than coming off the bench."
Despite Denson's solid play, the team is struggling and finds itself in a six-game losing streak.
"It's a lot of pressure. There's a lot of pressure on everybody," Denson said. "We need Noel (Johnson) to step up his shots. Allen Payne did his thing (Wednesday versus Georgia). Me and Frankie (Sullivan) need to step up."
The season is not over, though, and Denson and the Tigers still have plenty to play for heading into Wednesday's matchup with rival Alabama.
"It's still not over. We put ourselves in a bad situation, but we're trying to look at the positives instead of the negatives right now."
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