Auburn wins fourth straight

DeWayne Reed scored a game-high 20 points while Frankie Sullivan added 17 points and Tay Waller 16 points to lead Auburn to a 96-72 win over Div. II West Georgia in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday.

It was the Tigers' fourth straight win in its final non-conference game before SEC play.

Auburn (9-6) scored a season-high in points and equaled a season-high with 13 three-pointers made for the second consecutive game to go along with a season-low night turnovers.

Reed went 8-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and had six assists to zero turnovers. Sullivan dished out a career-high six assists while Waller went 4-of-9 from behind the arc.

West Georgia (7-7) closed to within 66-57 on a Jeremy Smith 3-pointer with 10:19 to play, but Auburn scored 15 straight points beginning with three consecutive 3-pointers by Lucas Hargrove, Sullivan and Reed followed by three layups by Sullivan, Johnnie Lett and again by Sullivan for an 81-57 lead.

"Well, the last game before SEC play, I thought offensively, we were pretty good," said Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo. "They played a lot of zone defense against us. Even though we made 13 threes, I still thought we had wide open looks, a lot of them we knocked down.

"I thought DeWayne Reed was outstanding. I think the last two games, he's been really good. He was solid out there, took good shots, and got into the paint. He had six assists, zero turnovers. In the last game against Georgia Southern, I thought he was terrific. He was under control. His decision making was good."

The Tigers enjoyed their largest lead at 84-59 on a Reed 3-pointer with 5:43 remaining.

Auburn jumped out to an early 17-5 lead less than four minutes in and led by as much as 18 points in the first half at 43-25 on a pair of Waller foul shots.

"I felt like if I could come out and get it going, hopefully the team would pick it up," said Waller. "In practice, Coach has been stressing shot selection. We came in over the break and got in some extra work on our shooting. I think it"s paying off right now."

Auburn shot 52.1 percent from the field and 39.4 percent on 13-of-33 shooting from 3-point range while making 9-of 13 foul shots. The Tigers outrebounded the Wolves 40-29 and outscored them 46-26 in the paint. West Georgia shot 43.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on 9-of-27 shooting from behind the arc.

Auburn plays its final SEC opener in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum history against South Carolina on Saturday at 12:30 pm Central. Tickets are $15 each.