Auburn continues its hot start with a 79-63 win over North Carolina A&T. With the win, the 8-2 Tigers are off to their best start since the 2018-19 season when they started off 12-1.
Honesty Scott-Grayson ran the show from start to finish for Auburn with a career-high 31 points while also leading the Tigers with five steals.
Both teams came into the game coming off of wins by 40-plus points. Auburn looked ready to put things away in dominant fashion, going into the fourth quarter with a 65-48 lead. The Aggies had different plans as they started to slowly chip away at the lead, reducing the deficit down to as low as 11 points.
Despite the comeback attempt by the Aggies, the Tigers were able to bring the comeback to the standstill and win their third straight game by 15+ points.
Auburn used strong defense to limit the Aggie offense — that came in averaging 77 points per game — to 63 points. The Tigers came into the game ranked No. 3 nationally in blocked shots per game (6.7), but only blocked three shots in the game. Auburn made up for that by getting 13 steals and forcing 27 total turnovers on the night.
“We forced 27 turnovers, and the turnovers we had, they weren’t just out of bounds, they were steals,” said head coach Johnnie Harris. “I love the fact that we forced those turnovers, but we have to get those numbers (points off turnovers) up.”
Scott-Grayson started the night aggressively, scoring the Tigers’ first four points and getting a steal just over a minute into the game.
"I felt like as an individual I was poised, I let the game come to me, and I feel like my teammates put me in good positions to get those buckets so I'll give credit to them, and me of course, but credit to them as well," Scott-Grayson said.
Freshman Kharyssa Richardson returned to the court after missing three straight games due to injury. Richardson had a major impact in her return, tallying a team-high six rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Sydney Shaw led the Tigers in +/- with +27 while having 14 points and leading the team with 5 assists.
"I was happy with the shot selection I took, and I was also happy I was able to see the hot hand and put my teammates in a good position to score," Shaw said.
North Carolina A&T was led by Dmya Tucker’s 14 points and eight rebounds. Tucker also led the team with two steals while Jazmin Harris led the Aggies with two steals.
While the North Carolina A&T will drop to 5-4 on the season with the loss, Auburn will improve to 8-2 on the season after winning its fifth straight game. The Tigers will be back in action at home in Neville Arena on Dec. 18 when the Tigers take on Samford. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and tipoff is set for noon CST.
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Chris Mendoza is a senior from Huntsville, Ala. majoring in journalism and minoring in sports coaching. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @chris_mendoza20
