With No. 1 Auburn leading No. 2 Alabama 42-33 at halftime, Denver Jones had been quiet, scoring three points with one rebound in 14 minutes of play for the Tigers.

The senior guard didn't stay silent long.

Jones opened the second half with a three-pointer to give the Tigers a 12-point advantage. After a layup from Jarin Stevenson, the New Market, Ala. native hit another one from beyond the arc. Jones wasn't done, hitting another three with 16:39 left before nailing a jumper at the 14:10 mark to give Auburn a 14-point lead.

"Honestly, I was just coming out aggressively," Jones said. "If I had an open look, I was taking it. I was just trusting myself and trusting my teammates. I know my teammates believe in me. Then it's just taking that shot, honestly."

His 11 points in the first six-plus minutes of the second half helped Bruce Pearl's squad get out to big lead.

"You've got to play well early on the road if you're going to win," the Auburn coach said.

Jones finished with 16 points, 13 of those coming in the second half, but Pearl was quick to credit the defense that his guard played for helping in the 94-85 win between the two top-ranked teams. Mark Sears, the leading scorer for the Tide, finished 4-of-17 from the field, including 2-of-11 from three.

In his postgame press conference, Pearl vouched for Jones to be considered for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award.

"Last thing I'm going to say is this: Denver Jones was sitting right here," the coach said. "I don't know when the media's going to talk about him being one of the best defensive players in college basketball. And we'll do the research for you. If you look at his matchups, night in and night out. I mean, Mark Sears is one of the best players in college basketball. Period. And, not that he did it by himself, but he did a great job on Mark."