AUBURN | Opportunity knocked and Anfernee McLemore kicked down the door.

With starting center Horace Spencer suspended, McLemore moved from the 4 to the 5 position and had career-highs in points (9), rebounds (8) and minutes played (18) to help Auburn to a 117-72 win over Coastal Carolina Thursday night.

“Horace opened up the door and he knocked it down, but he’s been knocking it down in practice so there could be some adjustments there with the future rotations that Anfernee is going to get a good strong look at the five to stay there, and that was the position that I had LaRon (Smith) and Horace rotating at,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.

McLemore, who played center at Worth County in Warwick, Ga., helps shore up Auburn's rebounding deficiencies. The Tigers had been out-rebounded in five-straight games before winning the battle on the boards 48-40 against the Chanticleers.

“I feel like I should get every rebound,” McLemore said. “If I don’t, I just have to work harder to get the next one. I just work to get every one of them.”

The frontcourt got even more crowded Friday when five-star center Austin Wiley officially enrolled. He’s expected to see his first action against Mercer Sunday.

But that hasn’t lessened Pearl’s enthusiasm for giving McLemore more opportunities at center. McLemore had been backing up Danjel Purifoy at the 4 position. Purifoy leads Auburn in scoring (17.6) and minutes (30.9) per game.

“I needed him to compete with Danjel from the time he got here,” Pearl explained. “And this summer he was playing even with Danjel or even slightly ahead of him, and so the experience that Anfernee got playing the power forward position, both offensively and defensively, this summer I think really is going to help him in the long term as a basketball player.

“The closer to the basket he gets, the better he looks. He can finish, he can rebound in traffic, he’s an improved defender and rim protector.”

Tip-off for Sunday’s game against Mercer is set for noon CT on the SEC Network. The Bears are 5-5 on the season with losses to Florida, Akron, Davidson, George Mason and Clemson.

Auburn (7-2) beat Mercer 78-71 last season.

“They’ve lost five games to five really good basketball teams. Three or four NCAA Tournament teams – everybody they’ve lost to will be a postseason team, so they’re very hard to evaluate at this time,” Pearl said.

“If you remember last year, it was a two-possession game the entire game. They led for much of the first half. They’ll play us both man and zone and some junk. I expect to see a lot of zone. Bob (Hoffman) is known throughout the country as one of the better X and O guys.”