KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Danjel Purifoy sat next to Samir Doughty on the bench midway through the second half. Auburn's lead hovered around the eight-point mark. Purifoy looked at Doughty and told him he wasn't feeling 100 percent, that his knee had been bothering him a little bit. Until that point, Purifoy's role hadn't been big enough for it to worry him too much, but he wanted to pass along the message to his teammate sitting next to him.

Then Bruce Pearl walked down toward Purifoy with a simple question.

"Coach asked me, second half when I got in, 'Are you ready? Or do you want to just run up and down and get loose a little bit?'" Purifoy said. " I told him go ahead and just throw me in there."

Good call by Pearl, good call by Purifoy.

The 6-foot-7 forward once known for his electrifying knock-down shooting ability showed flashes of his former self. Purifoy pulled up for his first 3-pointer with 11:06 to go. He hit it. Less than 60 seconds later, Purifoy tried it again. Another make. Less than 30 seconds after that, he launched a third 3-point attempt. It was a no-doubter at that point.

In a matter of 1:11 of game time, Purifoy went 3-for-3 from deep. He hit another one a few minutes later for good measure, rounding out his night 4-for-6 from long range and with 12 points.

"Right before he went in the game, he was saying, 'My knee kinda hurts.' Then he hit three-straight 3s. I was really kinda confused what was going on right there. But that's definitely something we needed," Doughty said. "It was a big, big difference in the game. I know if I was playing against him and somebody hit three 3s against me, I'd be down and frustrated. I just know that was their emotions, frustrated as a group that he just hit those shots. They were just big shots, every last one of them."

Personally, Purifoy swears it wasn't the best game of his Auburn career. He says that was his 27-point performance in Dec. 2016 in Madison Square Garden when the Tigers narrowly lost to Boston College. But he admits, given the stage, he couldn't have picked a better time to return to the Danjel Purifoy many people have been waiting to see again.

His teammates aren't surprised. But they're happy to see it.

"That's Jel being Jel," Malik Dunbar said. "I think he got his rhythm back finally."

"He's stepping up into the Danjel Purifoy I seen a few years ago," Bryce Brown said.

"That's always been him. He's a threat on offense. That's Danjel," Horace Spencer said. "I'm just happy he got his chance. Now, moving forward, he's going to be who he's supposed to be."

Coming into the Sweet 16, Purifoy had only attempted 12 3-pointers this season.

But as his teammates say, that's always been Purifoy's identity — confident shooter who can light it up once he starts hitting. There have been times in his Auburn career when Purifoy's had his doubts. He hasn't shied away from showing emotion on Twitter throughout the good and the bad. Some injuries and a year-and-nine-game NCAA suspension set Purifoy's development back.

Now he's back, and with Chuma Okeke expected to be out, Auburn needs the old Purifoy — or maybe it's the new Purifoy again — as much as ever.

"Many young men on a roster look at their spot and say look I’m playing behind a sophomore named Chuma Okeke that plays 35 minutes a game. Danjel stayed ready to help us this year. You look back at his social media and spends a lot of time on it. He promised you that it was going to happen for him this year. I kept on telling him, don’t wait on next year," Bruce Pearl said. "Before his injury a couple years ago where he really hurt his ankle very badly, that’s who he was. He was a starter, he was a real, legitimate pro prospect and a combination of the injury and the NCAA suspension for a year and nine games, that’s enough to really throw you off. But has continued to work. ... And of course he’s going to have to continue to step up to have a chance to advance."