As Auburn continues to wrap up the regular season and get ready for the SEC Tournament, it will need all hands on deck.
In its 80-75 win over Mississippi State, Anfernee McLemore begun heating up at the right time.
McLemore, who finished the game with 14 points, three rebounds and one block in 24 minutes, shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc (66 percent).
The junior credited his 3-point successes to the late night work he had been putting in lately.
"I mean, you see a few go in, and it's just -- I feel a lot of confidence," McLemore said. "I was in the gym last night with Bryce shooting, and the more you shoot, the more confident you get in making them."
McLemore, who has stepped into the starting rotation with the injury to fellow big man Austin Wiley, has had to deal this season with coming back from his ankle injury that occurred Feb. 2018 and held him out for the remainder of last season.
Mclemore said shooting earlier in the season was difficult after coming back from injury and stressed how important a game like Saturday's was.
"Yeah, because I struggled early in the season a lot," McLemore said. "It's hard to be confident shooting because once you miss, I wasn't shooting that well -- so it was kind of a struggle. But I kind of get in my groove and just -- seeing the ball go through the net a good bit of times, and I start to feel a lot better shooting."
Sunday, Auburn basketball will be celebrating its win over Mississippi State. The Tigers can also celebrate the fact that the victory gave them their 20th win of the season and back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1999-200.
For McLemore, however, he can celebrate the fact that's it's all starting to come together again for the player who was named to the SEC All-Defensive team in his sophomore season.
"I think I've carved out a niche," McLemore said. "Obviously, I want to get back to that level of shot-blocking... as far as making 3s, I'm a role player, so I've got to make the open ones. I've got to always knock those down."
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