Auburn tops LSU for Pearl's 500th win
AUBURN | It was a big win for Auburn and an even bigger night for Bruce Pearl.
Auburn notched a 78-74 victory over LSU to give Pearl his 500th career win. He has 231 wins at Southern Indiana, 86 at Milwaukee, 145 at Tennessee and now 38 in his third season at Auburn.
"I'm really glad they didn't have to hide this banner in the closet for a few weeks," joked Pearl, who was greeted with 500 win placards and a No. 500 Auburn jersey after the game. "I had no idea that they were going to do all this. I’m obviously grateful.
"My daughter came in from Atlanta. I had some friends come in from Evansville that were dear friends of mine at Southern Indiana. I think your family and everybody else kind of makes sort of a bigger deal out of this.”
Auburn led by 15 points midway through the second half but LSU went on a 15-2 run to make it a two-point game with 7:01 left. Auburn pulled back ahead by eight with 2:08 left before LSU put together a quick 6-0 run to cut it to 73-71 with 55 second left.
A T.J. Dunans runner, a Horace Spencer dunk off a fast break and a free throw by Ronnie Johnson over the final 38 seconds finished LSU off.
The Tigers shot a blistering 19-of-22 from the free throw line and shot 50 from the floor in the second half including 3-of-8 from 3-point range. Auburn had five players in double-figures led Dunans with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Mustapha Heron with 12 points and six rebounds.
Anfernee McLemore had 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting, four rebounds and two of Auburn’s eight blocked shots. Austin Wiley added 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Auburn finished with 42 rebounds, just four less than a big LSU lineup.
“I was glad I had the opportunity to help Coach Pearl get his 500th win,” McLemore said. “Going in we didn’t emphasize that it was his 500th but made sure we paid a lot of attention on defensive rebounding.”
Danjel Purifoy missed his third-straight game with an ankle injury, but Spencer, who normally plays the five, stepped into Purifoy's starting role at the four after practicing for the first time at the position a couple of days ago.
"It's a completely different position," Pearl said. "How many times did Horace forget to inbound the ball. It was a gamble but it paid off."
Spencer finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks
“I think I’m a natural four anyway but I always play the five because of how physical I am and how strong I am,” Spencer said. “I thought playing the four was more natural because I’m more mobile than a five. I can move faster on the ball, faster on the wing.”
LSU, which fell to 9-8 overall and 1-5 in the SEC, was led by Aaron Epps with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Auburn, which improved to 12-6 and 2-4 in the conference, hosts Alabama Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2.