Bruce Pearl and the Auburn men's basketball team earned their third win of the season on Thursday against Eastern Kentucky with a 85-64 victory.
Here are the final grades after the Tigers win:
Guards: B+
Auburn had several different guards running the offense against EKU. The Tigers had some help behind Mustapha Heron and his 24 points, 10 rebounds, and a lights out 8-8 from the field. Heron made all of this happen in only 23 minutes of playing time.
Jared Harper got the start at point guard and looked comfortable trying to get looks and run the offense. However, comfort doesn't mean successful. Harper played only 23 minutes of live action. He was only 1-4 from the three-point line, after a scorching 4-6 performance.
Bryce Brown was 1-6 from the field and was able to use his 6 foot 3 frame to pull down six boards. Both Brown and Harper went 3-6 from the free throw line.
The team struggled to connect from the perimeter early. At the half, the Tigers had just capped off a big run and took a 37-34 lead. Ronnie Johnson came off the bench and helped Auburn spark the run. Johnson finished with 13 points in 17 minutes. The senior from Indianapolis made history for himself; he hit a pull-up two, sending himself over the 1,000 point career scoring mark. Johnson was an efficient 5-8 and also had 4 assists.
The guard of the game belongs to Heron. Heron took over in the second half and assured that Auburn got the victory. He shot an above average 7-13 from the field and many of these attempts came near the rim drawing contact. His only flaw in the night seemed to be his early four turnovers.
Big Men: C+
Danjel Purifoy led the way early for Auburn. He seemed to be the only one who could connect with any kind of scoring. He finished he game with 16, nine of those coming from behind the arc.
Like Heron, Purifoy also had four turnovers. Mostly because the two players did the majority of play-making and scoring. Purifoy played 31 minutes and made the most of it. He held EKU's Nick Mayo to 33 percent from the field and had 20 points. Purifoy played three less minutes then Mayo, but it took several big bodies to keep Mayo out of the paint.
Horace Spencer played 19 minutes and made use of them, grabbing eight rebounds. Spencer only scored 4 points, but he also recorded four personal fouls. Spencer made sure every Mayo shot was contested. LaRon Smith played 21 minutes because of the foul trouble, his two blocks came at decisive moments for the Tigers.
Overall: B-
Auburn held onto a 3-point victory and eventually blew the Colonels out of the water by 21 points. The guard’s had trouble with the speed of the game in the first half. Once the tone of the game seemed to settle down both experience [Ronnie Johnson], and the youth took over the game
Heron and Purifoy both did enough to earn player of the game awards, but the honor will go to Purifoy who down the stretch seemed to influence the game more on both sides.
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