Three takeaways from Auburn's win over Loyola Chicago
It wasn't the prettiest game for Auburn, but that was to be expected after a 115-109 double-overtime shootout game less than 24 hours before today's game.
Auburn's second half defense came up strong again and allowed the Tigers to slow down Loyola Chicago and come away with a 62-53 win.
Bruce Pearl said the goal for Auburn in the Battle 4 Atlantis was a championship or two wins. That's still on the table and the Tigers can come away very pleased with their trip to the Bahamas.
Takeaways from Auburn's win over Loyola Chicago:
Jabari Smith is this team's closer... but he needs to get involved more early in the game
Just as Loyola Chicago was trying to make a comeback, Jabari Smith said "no sir." He hit several buckets down the stretch to keep a cushion on Auburn's lead.
Against UConn when Auburn was down 113-109 in double-overtime, Pearl drew up a play to get Smith a corner-3. The freshman missed, but one thing has become clear: Smith is this team's closer.
When Auburn needs a big bucket in crunch time, Auburn's going to go to Smith.
That could change when Allen Flanigan gets back, and when Wendell Green is on fire it's impossible not to feed him, but Smith is likely going to be the most consistent go-to option at the end of the game.
Now with that said, Auburn needs to try and get Smith involved more early in the game. Run plays to get him the ball and shooting it. He's Auburn's most talented player on offense and with the half-court offense struggling the way it is, the offense needs to go through him.
Reports of Walker Kessler's demise were greatly exaggerated
When Walker Kessler started a little slow to start the year on offense, North Carolina fans were in my Twitter mentions and trying to say he's not a good player.
News flash: He is.
Kessler has double-doubles in back-to-back games against Auburn's two toughest opponents of the season thus far. He's also hit a three in both of those games, forcing the defense to respect him on the perimeter.
He finished Thursday's game with 13 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and two steals.
The big man's offensive game is still developing, yes. There's no doubt about that. But to say he's not good was absurd.
It also doesn't help Auburn's guards are really struggling to feed him the ball inside. Especially against Loyola Chicago he had a lot of mismatches and was calling for the ball but never got it.
Once Auburn improves at feeding the post, Kessler is going to be even better.
Auburn needs more consistency and more scoring from its bench
Pearl got some contributions from its bench on Thursday, namely from Wendell Green who put up 10 points in the second half.
The rest of the bench: Jaylin Williams, Dylan Cardwell, Chris Moore and Lior Berman all had two points apiece. It's also worth noting that Green's 10 points all came in the second half. Williams shot the ball two times. He was a starter on last year's team and has proven what he can do. Be aggressive.
Auburn has a lot of depth, yes, but it needs to play better when it's on the floor.
When Flanigan returns and Cambridge goes to the bench, that could help the group out a little bit.
But for now, Auburn needs to get some more contributions from its bench players while they're on the floor.
Pearl said it best after the UConn game.
"Some of our guys played more minutes than I would have liked. Our program has always been best when everybody contributes, and I need a few more guys that I know can contribute to be more aggressive when they're out there," Pearl said.
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Auburn's last game in the Battle 4 Atlantis will be at 3:30 p.m. CT against the winner of Arizona State and Syracuse on ESPN2.
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