Bruce Pearl on Saturday pleaded with his reserves to play with more consistency.
On Sunday, Jamal Johnson heeded the call.
The sophomore guard became a perfect complement to the Tigers' ball-screen offense, finding space along the perimeter and shooting accurately from those positions. Johnson added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and helped lead Auburn to a 86-59 win over Lipscomb.
"Every shot was in rhyme and rhythm," coach Bruce Pearl said of Johnson's night. "He knew before the ball came than he was going to shoot it. That’s what the good shooters do."
The Tigers will head into conference play with a 12-0 record — the longest win streak to open a season since 1999. San Diego State is the only other undefeated team in Division I.
Lipscomb held the upper hand early with its 2-3 zone look, which brought the Tigers' attack to a crawl. The home team seemed confused. That led to several panicky, chaotic possessions while the visitors were much more composed.
That's how the Bisons built a 10-2 lead.
Yet Auburn's confusion soon lifted. The key to that breakthrough was the side ball screen — where Auburn created a rolling action off screens set even with the free-throw line but beyond the three-point line. That created a short-term mismatch, which the Tigers used to create advantageous opportunities closer to the basket.
It was all about spacing and off-the-dribble distribution at that stage.
"We shot it OK," Pearl said, "and executed a little bit better in the half court."
Auburn eventually built a 40-25 lead at the intermission. Lipscomb, flustered by an inability to solve its emerging defensive problem, struggled to create much flow on the scoring end. The visitors went more than eight minutes without a bucket late in the half.
That rut allowed Auburn to build a big deal — and essentially ended the Bisons' upset hopes.
The second half was more of the same. Auburn struggled at times to keep its offense in gear, though the problems were a function of missing open shots rather than an inability to create advantageous opportunities.
Though Johnson's efficient performance off the bench was crucial to the Tigers' big first half, forward Danjel Purifoy's second half was nearly as significant. The senior hasn't shot well from long range during the past few games, but seemed to break through Sunday.
Purifoy led the Tigers with 17 points — including 13 after halftime.
"We’ve talked about the fact that we need him to be good," Pearl said. "We won’t win as many SEC games as we should unless he does what he did tonight. He knows it. He absolutely knows it. I thought he had a good rhythm to his game."
The Tigers resume play Jan. 4 at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are 8-3 this season.
