Fresh off a 74-71 victory over Memphis, Auburn returned home to Auburn Arena to play host to Texas Southern on Tuesday. For Auburn, the 80-63 victory was a tale of two halves.
For the first 20 minutes, freshmen JT Thor and Justin Powell were the engines of Auburn's offense.
Thor made his presence known early with five points, three rebounds, two steals and a block within the first six minutes of the contest. Bruce Pearl was pleased with his young forward’s performance and the energy that came along with it.
"But the key for our team is when JT Thor does what he does tonight," Pearl said. "Three steals and great, you know, five offensive rebounds and you could see how popular a player JT is because you saw when he started flying around and making plays, the whole bench lit up like crazy."
Powell picked up where he left off following his 26-point outing against Memphis. By halftime, the guard had nine points, three assists and three rebounds.
“I think Justin is going to take what the defense gives him,” Pearl said. “He’s got the confidence of his teammates, we trust him with the ball in his hands, he don’t mind being coached.”
Despite encouraging performances from the freshmen, Auburn went into the locker room at halftime down 40-39 to Texas Southern.
While the freshmen led the way in the first half, the second half of Tuesday's game was all sophomore guard Allen Flanigan.
After a quiet first half because of foul trouble, Flanigan scored 15 second-half points across 18 minutes. Even with a quiet first half, Flanigan's attitude throughout the game remained consistent.
“It was very frustrating picking up two fouls early and having to sit,” Flanigan said. “But I had a lot of enthusiasm with my guys, just keeping them motivated. In the second half, I told them in the locker room that I had them.”
Auburn will now redirect its focus to the next opponent: Troy. Auburn hosts the Trojans in Auburn Arena at 1 p.m. CST Saturday.
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