When the sneakers hit the hardwood in the Auburn Arena for the first in-game action of 2015, there was no shortage of new faces on the floor for the Auburn basketball team.
Out of 12 players who recorded stats, eight Tigers spent their first minutes on the floor in orange and blue as Auburn cruised to a 99-59 win over Brevard College on Friday night.
Cinmeon Bowers led in scoring with 17 points on 7-10 shooting, as Auburn recorded its largest margin of victory since a 92-42 win against Grambling on Dec. 11, 2012. Bowers also led Auburn in rebounds with 12, securing his first double-double of 2015 after recording 14 last season.
“I think you could see that he’s in better shape,” coach Bruce Pearl said of Bowers, who shed over 20 pounds in the offseason. “He’s moving well. He missed two or three really easy ones early, otherwise he has an even bigger night.”
The other four Tigers who scored in double-digits were not on the team a year ago.
Kareem Canty, who sat out last season after transferring from Marshall, knocked down four three-pointers, tying for the team lead with freshman New Williams, who knocked down all three of his second-half attempts from downtown.
Tyler Harris, a graduate transfer from Providence, and T.J. Dunans also scored in double digits. Harris and Dunans recorded eight rebounds each to help Auburn dominate the Tornados, 53-33, on the boards.
Though the Tigers never trailed in the game, they were sluggish offensively for the first few minutes of the contest. A 15-0 run over 3:48 in the middle of the first half granted Auburn some separation.
The Tigers cruised to a comfortable halftime lead, and it widened in the second half behind the hot hand of Williams and the surprising play of Zach Allison.
The freshman walk-on from Pelham led Auburn in assists with eight, the first of which was a lob off the backboard to Williams, which allowed the California native to show off his renowned leaping ability in front of the crowd of 6,999.
“It felt great being out there,” Williams said. “When the lights hit, I knew it was that time. It felt really good being out there with my team and just feeling that energy from the crowd.”
One area of struggle for Auburn is one they are familiar with.
The Tigers shot only 17-28 (61%) from the free throw line, one year after they finished ninth in the SEC with a 69 percent mark.
Auburn’s rotation was different than it likely would have been had the Tigers not suffered a rash of injuries in the week leading up to their first exhibition game, according to Pearl.
Projected starters TJ Lang and Tahj Shamsid-Deen, along with freshman Bryce Brown, missed the exhibition with injuries, and Danjel Purifoy has yet to be cleared to play by the NCAA.
Harris said exhibition games provide a great opportunity for the team to come together and develop chemistry before the season, especially with so many new faces working together for the first time.
“In these games, we want to be able to look for our strengths, our weaknesses,” Harris said. “This was a great team to play against with their Princeton offense.”
Pearl said the game provides a foundation to build on as Auburn works toward its next exhibition game, which is Thursday at 6 p.m. against the University of Indianapolis.
“(Brevard was) well-coached, they ran (the Princeton offense), and the stuff they ran was hard to guard,” Pearl said. “It exposed them to some things. We have some things to work on, and overall, I think it was a good first effort.”
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