Strong second half performance powers Auburn to win over UCF

After an early struggle with the UCF pressure, the Auburn Tigers were able to pull away and defeat UCF 85-68 on Wednesday in Auburn Arena. 

Auburn started sloppy, as the team was clearly affected by the UCF press, giving up 10 points off turnovers in the first 10 minutes. But Auburn settled down and started to break the press, which gave the Tigers easy baskets to help them pull away from a solid UCF team.

“UCF is a dangerous team,” said coach Bruce Pearl. “Very athletic, veteran team. You can see how they’re capable of heating up. They play hard, they’re physical, they strip and rip. I thought we could’ve done a better job of breaking the pressure and scoring against the press. We shot it well early, and then in the second half, we did a better job of attacking the rim on the backside of the pressure.”

The press affected Auburn’s guards Wendell Green and Zep Jasper, but Auburn was able to break the press because of forwards Jaylin Williams and Jabari Smith’s abilities to play like guards.

“Jabari Smith and Jaylin Williams did a really good job of playing like point guards,” Pearl said. “They were able to get to the rim, they made some pretty good passes, and we did a better job of getting the ball inside. They’re big guards.”

In addition to struggling with the press, Auburn’s offense was a bit stagnant in the first half and was forced to shoot tough jumpers, but the Tigers settled in during the second half and broke the game open.

“We shot a lot of jumpers in the first half,” Smith said. “Our biggest focus was just to attack and get to the free-throw line and after we break the press, just get our shot and not turn the ball over.”

Auburn struggled with its aggressiveness to start the game, as the players settled for jumpers and played a bit lackadaisical, but that shifted dramatically in the second half.

“Coach’s biggest point was that they’re playing harder than us and playing with more energy than us,” Smith said. “That fired us up, and we came out of the locker room with more energy, and that’s how we stretched the lead out and got the W.” 

After struggling a bit in the first half, Auburn’s defense was able to hold the Knights to five points from the 14:31 mark to the 7:02 mark in the second half.

“Handling the pressure and the press in the second half eliminated a lot of points off turnovers,” said center Walker Kessler. “We got back and played defense and played better in ball screen coverage.”

Auburn’s depth came into play, as Pearl was able to play all of his players under 30 minutes besides Walker Kessler who had to play 31 minutes due to foul trouble from Dylan Cardwell. 

The Knights, however, had Darius Perry play 37 minutes and every other starter played over 25 minutes, causing the Knights to wear down.

“We wore them down defensively,” Pearl said. “Our depth was a factor. Walker Kessler was our only guy that played over 30 minutes.” 

Jabari Smith once again led the Tigers in points with 20 on the night, and Walker Kessler and KD Johnson had 17 and 11 points, respectively.

“I’m just playing basketball,” said forward Jabari Smith. “It doesn’t matter if I have two points or 20, I just want to win, so it doesn’t really matter. Coach has instilled confidence in me to shoot more shots, attack more. When he calls my number I just have to make plays.”

Walker Kessler posted another double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. He also protected the rim at an elite level with six blocks.

Kessler struggled to start the season, averaging only five points and four rebounds in the first three games of the season, but has since posted three doubles in Auburn’s last four games. The reason for the impressive play is quite simple.

“It was good to see Walker control the game on the inside,” Pearl said. “We got him some rolls to the basket, he made some great plays getting to the basket, and he made some good passes when he got the ball on the inside.”

The Tigers improved to 6-1 on the season and are back in action at Auburn Arena on Saturday to face off against the Ivy League favorite Yale Bulldogs. The game will tip-off at 1 pm CST on ESPNU.