Taking a deeper look at Auburn's 76-74 win against Mercer.
- The Tigers were a mess throughout the first half. There were a couple reasons. Auburn was slow to adjust to Mercer's zone defense, which coaxed Bruce Pearl's team into extreme passivity. In fact, it seemed for a while that Austin Wiley, in his college debut, was the No. 1 scoring option in a post-up capacity. It was all wrong. Of course, no coach looks like a genius when his top three scoring-end guys (Heron, Purifoy, Harper) go 2-of-14 from the floor.
- Auburn attacked the middle of Mercer's zone during the second half. That affected different players in different ways. Heron penetrated into that open area and used it to set himself up for pull-up jumpers or drives to the rim. He scored 19 of his 21 points during the second half, which was huge. Other players, most notably T.J. Dunans and Ronnie Johnson, penetrated into that area to create opportunities for teammates. Regardless of intention, Auburn took the fight to Mercer's defense during the second half. It worked: Auburn averaged .909 points per possession in the first half, 1.353 during the second half.
- Wiley was very good in his debut. Nine points, three rebounds, two blocks in 15 minutes is plenty strong.
- It'll be interesting to see how the staffing situation plays out down low. After a great performance against Coastal Carolina earlier in the week, Anfernee McLemore was The It Player. He was well off that pace (two points, three rebounds in 14 minutes) against Mercer. LaRon Smith played only 11 minutes, but he was quite effective with six points, two rebounds, one block and a big turnover created late in the second half. Wiley obviously can play. Horace Spencer can help in some ways as well. I reckon they'll just rotate based on who's hot at the time, but you'd better be hot early or you'll get passed over.
- Auburn showed a lot of resiliency. In seasons past, this team lacked the mental fortitude to cope with Mercer's late comeback surge. This team? Managed it. A "lucky" shot won the game, yes, but there were no shrugged shoulders or sad faces along the Auburn bench during the final possession. There was hype and belief. Big difference.
- Wiley getting into school early was a complicated, protracted endeavor. The bulk of the credit falls to Wiley, who worked hard in the classroom to earn the necessary grades. Without that, he graduates in May and arrives next summer. However, Auburn assistant coach Harris Adler was a deft facilitator throughout. He worked closely with compliance ace Rich McGlynn to keep Wiley on track, to keep Auburn on track. Getting Wiley in uniform Sunday was the culmination of a lot of work.
- Auburn (8-2) resumes play Wednesday night against Oklahoma in Connecticut.
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