T.J. Dunans celebrated his birthday in style.

Dunans scored a career-high 21 points off the bench to lead Auburn to a 74-70 win over Oklahoma in the Hall of Fame Classic at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

The Tigers improve to 9-2 while the Sooners fall to 6-5.

“Everybody is happy and excited to pull this win out,” Dunans said. “We played together as a team so it’s real good in the locker room right now.

“It was a battlefield out there. We were being hit every play. I got scratches everywhere. I was like, ‘We got to be physical tonight.’”

With leading scorer Danjel Purifoy in foul trouble most of the game, Bruce Pearl turned to Dunans for extra minutes. The senior added four rebounds, five assists and some much-needed leadership on his 24th birthday.

“Dunans was a very calming influence and he was talking to all his teammates. We had a lot of young guys out there,” said Pearl, who had four true freshmen in his starting lineup.

Auburn led by 12 at halftime and increased that to 17 early in the second half before Oklahoma went on a 13-0 run to make it 45-41 with 11:21 left. The Tigers stretched it back out to 12 points over the next four and a half minutes and made 10-of-12 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Freshman Jared Harper tied his career-high with 21 points including nine points over the final 3:04. He made 11-of-12 from the free throw line.

Freshman Mustapha Heron added 15 points and 12 rebounds, the second double-double of his career, in a return to his home state.

“Mustapha Heron with the double-double and gets 10 defensive rebounds,” Pearl said. “He was much more of a factor driving and getting tough twos. He only got to the foul line four times but I thought he got fouled a ton. And that’s the best defensive effort he’s given us.”

Freshman center Austin Wiley, who joined the team five days ago, started his first career game and had six points, three rebounds and two blocks.

Purifoy, who came into the game averaging 16.5 points per game, sat for the final 16 minutes of the first half after picking up two early fouls. He finished with six points and seven rebounds.

In Purifoy, Heron, Harper and Wiley, Auburn started four freshmen for the first time in 10 years.

“This was a big stage and tonight the bright lights didn’t bother our freshmen quite as much,” Pearl said.

Auburn out-rebounded Oklahoma 45-41 but committed 23 turnovers. The Tigers shot 22-of-50 (44%) from the floor and 8-of-22 (36%) from 3-point range while the Sooners shot 23-of-72 (32%) from the floor and 5-of-17 (29%) from beyond the arc.

“We just scraped together enough offense,” Pearl said. “The 23 turnovers is awful. The shooting percentage was not good, but boy that defensive rebounding can carry us. Defensive rebounding wins championships.”

Oklahoma, which was without leading scorer Jordan Woodard due to an injury, was led by Jordan Sheperd with 13 points and Rashard Odomes with 12.

Auburn returns to action Friday against Connecticut at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2.