Auburn 90, USC Upstate 83
- Auburn lacked major-league effort at times Tuesday night, which Pearl attributed to the holiday break and less-than-excellent conditioning. I just think it was more about the opponent being USC Upstate, you know? It's kinda hard to get up for that when you've got UAB and Oklahoma and UConn coming up. Is that OK? Not really, but that's the kind of thing that happens to young teams.
- One stat that will be lost in the shuffle is Danjel Purifoy's nine assists. Keep in mind that he's a power forward by trade. Auburn attacked USC Upstate's zone by stationing Purifoy near the free-throw line and having him look for passes to the block or to the deep corners. He was deft and effective in that role. The freshman wasn't great in other parts of his game (2-of-8 from the floor, only two free throws attempted) but he was an excellent enabler/creator Tuesday night.
- There is a "problem" with this team and LaRon Smith touched on it briefly in his post-game comments. He mentioned that Auburn tends to "worry about the wrong things." What things? "Shots and who's taking shots and stuff like that." The influx of new players has put returning guys in a tough situation -- they were top dogs last season (or were expecting to be top dogs this season) and now most of them are being pushed into more peripheral roles. T.J. Lang, for example, is fine with that. He may not be thrilled about the idea, but he's conforming his game to the team's needs. I can't say the same for T.J. Dunans. He's a confusing player because he sometimes seems brazenly selfish and other times defers to teammates. It seems unnatural. I strongly suspect he's the primary source of the "worry" Smith cited Tuesday night. Dunans is best as an enabler, a guy who does a lot of different things. The quicker he realizes that the quicker Auburn can take the next step. He's a fantastically talented guy.
- Jared Harper was not his usual self Tuesday. He's usually a guy who never has to be told to step up his game, but that's exactly what Pearl and Chuck Person were telling the freshman early in the second half. He seemed lax on the defensive end, which isn't his personality at all. A few players told me they'd been fighting colds during the past week, which may have played a role. I didn't speak with Harper. I strongly suspect he'll be better against UAB Saturday.
- Another effective night from Mustapha Heron, which is really amazing when you consider he's a freshman. He finished with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, six rebounds, three assists. Also, he was 7-of-7 from the line. There was zero problem with his intensity Tuesday. He's really looking like the real deal, folks. He's a slasher and not really a shooter, but he's damn good at what he does. And he'll keep getting better.
- Quarterback recruit Jarrett Stidham visited the AU locker room during halftime. He was surprised to see that coaches and players alike knew about his situation and were hoping to see him playing for the Tigers next season.
