On a night of debuts in the Auburn Arena, the Auburn basketball team kicked off the Bruce Pearl era with an 83-73 come-from-behind victory over the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers.
Despite trailing by 12 at one point in the second half, Pearl's Tigers (1-0) used an 18-2 run to storm back to a lead that they would never relinquish.
"We're going to be in a lot of these nail-biters, just because the roster is thin," Pearl said. "I'm just glad the fans got rewarded tonight."
Pearl wasn't the only one making a debut Friday night.
Auburn's newcomers scored 53 of the Tigers' points, led by JUCO transfer Cinmeon Bowers' 18 points and 17 rebounds.
"Obviously (Bowers) put up man numbers," Pearl said. "There were times in the game when he was a strong factor, but he also made some plays that he knows he shouldn't make."
Former Niagra shooting guard Antoine Mason scored 19 points in his debut despite suffering a "nasty" ankle sprain in the second half. KC Ross-Miller chipped in 13 points on the night.
The Tigers broke out to a quick 7-2 start, led by early contributions from Bowers, Ross-Miller and Mason.
However, Milwaukee answered with a run in the middle of the half, shutting Auburn out for close to five minutes and taking the lead at the 7:42 during a 10-0 streak.
The Tigers failed to overcome the deficit and went into the half trailing 32-29. Ross-Miller led all scorers at the break while Bowers posted six points and seven rebounds.
Despite the deficit, Bowers said it was a situation they'd prepared for.
"In practice we do pressure situations," Bowers said. "We got to work our way up to get a W in practice so we just took that to the game."
Two of Auburn's main contributors from last season, Tahj Shamsid-Deen and KT Harrell, were held to two combined points on 1-of-7 shooting.
But Harrell bounced back in the second half, scoring 18 of his team-high 20 points and fueling the Tigers' comeback.
"I just stay aggressive," Harrell said. "I'm a confident player and I know I can get it going so I just try to stay aggressive and look for open shots."
Pearl had high praise for his senior guard after the game.
"I just think KT is a little focused on winning home games," Pearl said. "He doesn't want to lose at home. He tried to put us on his back a little bit."
Shamsid-Deen left the game in the second half with an injured shoulder that Pearl said briefly popped out of socket.
After the game, Pearl credited the attendance, which at 8,114 was the second-largest for a non-conference game in Auburn Arena, for aiding the team's performance.
"It's a struggle," Pearl said. "But we all struggled together. The crowd was a huge factor in us being able to hang in there tonight."
With a win under their belt, Pearl and the Tigers' attention now turns to a late-night matchup against Colorado on Tuesday morning at midnight.
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