Auburn's role players kept it afloat in Mobile on Tuesday.

In a dramatic, 70-69 win over South Alabama, the Tigers bench produced 32 points — a season-high — and it was primarily the team's top two non-starters who carried the load.

Redshirt sophomore 2-guard Jamal Johnson and senior center Anfernee McLemore dropped 14 points apiece in the victory. The Memphis transfer Johnson scored more than that four times while playing for the other Tigers, and McLemore hadn't produced that much in the scoring column since putting up 14 against Mississippi State in March.

"It's a commitment," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said of his bench. "I know it's hard sometimes in close games to play your bench. ... We went with our rotation. I thought it was huge because we outscored them 32-9 from the bench."

The only role player Pearl didn't play was freshman point guard Tyrell Jones. The head coach said it wasn't anything Jones did wrong, but simply that he didn't want to throw an inexperienced player into an unfavorable position against the complex press defense of South Alabama.

As the starters struggled to hit with consistency from deep, Johnson came in and lit up the Jaguars from 3-point range, shooting 4-of-5 from long range in 17 minutes on the court.

Johnson's role was crucial as Auburn continues to rely on starting shooting guard Samir Doughty to log minutes at backup point guard behind J'Von McCormick. Johnson is the only other true 2-guard in the rotation.

“We wanted [Johnson] to be more aggressive, build up his confidence a little bit," Pearl said. "... I didn’t know it was going to be tonight, but I told him, ‘You’re going to win us a couple games this year.’ And he did.”

Freshman forward Allen Flanigan added 4 points off the bench, while wing Devan Cambridge did not attempt a shot or a free throw in 9 minutes on the floor.

McLemore's big night came in the wake of foul trouble for starting center Austin Wiley, who had just two points and one rebound before fouling out.

Auburn also saw freshman center Babatunde Akingbola play his first action of the season. Pearl inserted the 6-foot-10 shot-blocker as Wiley came off the floor, and the man they call "Stretch" swatted a pair of shots in the second half.

"Babatunde went in there and blocked a couple shots," Pearl said. "He did a great job and got his feet wet. Allen got his feet wet. Jamal got his feet wet. Devan [Cambridge] didn't play well tonight, but he's really talented.

"We've got pieces. We've just got to figure it out."

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