Although it was not pretty, the top-ranked Tigers were able to stick out a hard-earned SEC win on the road over Missouri in its first game as the No. 1-ranked team in school history.
Auburn was able to live up to the title of top dog in the game as it defeated Missouri 55-54 to extend its win streak to 16 on Tuesday night.
Unranked, 8-10 Missouri was up to the challenge. It was a dogfight from start to finish.
“Very physical game," said head coach Bruce Pearl. I think one of the most physical games we’ve played all year. Because of that physicality, it was hard for both teams to score.”
Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin’s squad found its deep-stroke early. Coming into the game, Missouri was ranked last in the league in 3-point percentage, but it knocked down four early triples in the first eight minutes to take an 18-9 lead.
After that, Wendell Green Jr. introduced himself with two consecutive long balls of his own to get it back to a three-point affair.
After Missouri went up 27-20, Auburn was done playing around. The Tigers in orange, with the help of guard K.D. Johnson, took over.
He got Auburn back in the game at the end of the half by scoring six consecutive points, including a steal and a layup on the other end to make it a two-point deficit.
On the next possession, he assisted Jabari Smith Jr. on a 3-point jumper that gave Auburn its first lead of the game with 3:15 left to go in the first half.
Johnson finished the half with a team-high 10 points and added three steals, an assist and a rebound. In a half where Walker Kessler and Smith were held to a combined eight points, he was a game changer.
The score was knotted up at the break, 31-31. Missouri looked to be the more physical team, outrebounding Auburn 22-15 and leading in second-chance points 8-1.
Auburn immediately consumed the lead in the second half, as guard Zep Jasper came out firing with a 3-pointer.
From there, the scoring came sparingly in the second half. The score was 42-41 in favor of Auburn with 7:50 left to go in the game, and Missouri had not scored in the last seven minutes. Auburn made only 1-of-12 field goals and Missouri converted on only one of seven in that time frame.
The game continued to go back-and-forth and with its 15-game winning streak on the line with 2:47 to go, Auburn held a one-point lead, 50-49.
Johnson took over late. With Auburn down one with 1:45 on the clock, he completed a three-point play before scoring again on the next possession to make it a 55-51 lead going into a timeout.
Missouri answered right back with a 3-pointer, but it was not enough. Johnson took the ball down the court and missed a layup. Kessler picked up the rebound and put it back up for another miss. It got knocked away from the goal, took a bounce out of bounds but the clock had hit zero.
Although Auburn had its lowest scoring performance of the season with 55 points, it was able to make key plays in the clutch. Notably from Johnson, who led the team in scoring with 17 points.
“Late in the game, K.D. is a dangerous man," Peal said. “He’s not afraid of the moment.”
Johnson continued to show up when his team needed him. He shifted the momentum in Auburn’s favor in key situations with a five and then a six-point scoring run that was not overcome.
“In that last minute or so, I was just trying to make a play for my team, and I came through in the clutch,” Johnson said.
Devan Cambridge was able to come off the bench in the second half and rack up nine rebounds, which Johnson said “got them started up.”
Once Cambridge got them going, they didn’t stop. Auburn found success inside with 25 offensive rebounds, including Kessler’s rebound to seal the win.
On the other side, Javon Pickett led the way for Missouri with 17 points, and Jaron Coleman also put up double figures with 10.
After being out-rebounded by seven in the first half, Auburn gained the advantage on the board, 33-16 in the second half. The effort on the glass was led by Kessler, who tallied 12 rebounds in his double-double performance.
“You talk about guys playing with effort and energy, that’s what it’s all about,” Pearl said.
Standout freshman Jabari Smith had a forgettable night shooting. He recorded a season-low five points while shooting 2-of-15 from the field. The effort was still there from Smith, as he grabbed 10 rebounds — three offensive — two blocks and an assist.
Auburn also saw decreased production from Green, who left the game momentarily with 13:18 remaining in the game. He collided with Missouri’s Yaya Keita and was favoring his right knee, drawing an offensive charge on the play. He went to the locker room, but soon returned, which Pearl called “the biggest win of the night.”
After two early threes, he did not score again, and he finished 2-of-9 shooting. Auburn’s third leading scorer finished with just six in the game.
On a night where the team’s best shooters were cold, Auburn was still able to come out on top.
“We can win when Jabari doesn’t have a big offensive night, but Missouri can’t win when Kobe Brown doesn’t have a big offensive night,” Pearl said.
Alabama-native Kobe Brown, who averages 13.8 points a game this season, finished with only eight points.
Auburn, coming off arguably the biggest home win in program history over No. 12 Kentucky on Saturday, which boosted them to the No. 1 spot, came out flat shooting in this game. It was its worst shooting performance of the season at 30% from the floor.
“It’s a long year," Pearl said. "I felt going into tonight that we’ve been grinding so hard, at some point there could be a letdown. Maybe we had a little bit of a letdown tonight. We weren’t very sharp offensively.”
Through all of the noise of the previous weekend and an early deficit Auburn kept its eyes on the prize and battled back to stay in the win column.
“A team with a lesser character would not have been able to come back and win this game,” Pearl said.
Auburn will face Oklahoma in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday at 1 p.m. CST.
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