Auburn pulls away in second half
AUBURN | The shots started falling and Auburn pulled away.
The Tigers shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half including 4-of-9 from 3-point range in an 83-65 win over Georgia State Monday night at the Auburn Arena.
Auburn starts the season 2-0 for the first time in six years.
“It’s nice to be 2-0. I don’t think I’ve been 2-0 at Auburn yet,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “Individually it was kind of fun to watch Jared Harper take over and yet Ronnie Johnson had five assists and one turnover so we got pretty good point guard play.
“Danjel (Purifoy) learned a lesson about foul trouble tonight. People are going to go at him and try to get him in foul trouble because we’re not nearly as good a team offensively without him.”
Harper and Purifoy led the Tigers with 19 points apiece. Harper knocked down two three pointers at the end of the first half to give Auburn a five-point lead at the break.
He shot 5-of-10 from the field, 4-of-6 from three-point range and added four rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Purifoy got into early foul trouble but came back to score 17 of his 19 points in the second half. He shot 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
“(The first half) was real frustrating, but I didn't let it get to me because my team did a real good job of not letting them get to the basket as much. We had a couple of turnovers, but we stuck through it and got the win,” Purifoy said.
Auburn had two other players in double-figures with Horace Spencer scoring 12 and Mustapha Heron 10. Heron added a team-high eight rebounds.
Purifoy said he dedicated the game to his teammate, graduate transfer LaRon Smith, who played at Georgia State for two seasons from 2012-14. Smith only had two points, one rebound and three blocked shots against the Panthers, but was still overjoyed with the win.
“He was just all teeth. You couldn't get him to stop smiling,” Purifoy said.
The Tigers return to action Thursday as Eastern Kentucky visits the Auburn Arena. Tip-off on SEC Network is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT.