Auburn basketball fans got an early Christmas present on Tuesday as the Tigers took down Appalachian State 67-53.

While it wasn’t perfect against the Mountaineers — as the Tigers started the game 0-of-6 from the field — contributions from Jaylin Williams, Jamal Johnson and Allen Flanigan helped Auburn head into its break on a high note.

“App State, they gave us a good run. They're a really good defensive team,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “And, with the exception of Tennessee, Bowling Green. I thought we struggled a little bit offensively, really struggled on two-point baskets. And didn't get a ton of fast break. And they took better care of the basketball tonight, only turning it over seven times. They typically turn it over 18 times.”

The Tigers went into the first timeout down 5-0 and the Mountaineers lead grew to 9-0 before Auburn finally got on the board with a Jaylin Williams three.

“One of the things I was concerned about a little bit was, alright, we’re a young team and we were down 9-0 to start the game or something like that, right? I’m not sure what it was but we didn’t get off to a very good start,” Pearl said. “How much of that was youth and inexperience and not quite understanding that these guys had only lost two games at Tennessee and Bowling Green, both teams picked to win their leagues. I was prepared for the guys having a little bit of a breakdown, but they rallied. The bench, the bench made a huge, huge difference for us tonight.”

24 of Auburn’s 67 points came off the bench, including 14 points from Johnson.

The star of the show early in the season for Auburn, Justin Powell, was held scoreless in the first half but found ways to contribute with six rebounds and four assists.

In the second half, he scored nine points.

“So here’s the deal. In their ball-screen defense, Appalachian State was hedging. They were jumping out on the ball screen, which obviously we prepared for. That means the ball carrier’s got to give it up and the other guys got to be the playmaker,” Pearl said on Powell in the first half. “So you create advantage/disadvantage situations for other players whether it be Al Flanigan or Jaylin Williams or a couple of other guys. Put the ball in their hands to be able to then make plays. So that’s probably the reason why he didn’t get many shots because they took it out of his hands in ball screen. You know, Justin doesn’t care how many shots he gets, he just cares about winning.”

Auburn now rides a five-game winning streak and is 6-2 heading into SEC play with its last loss coming on Nov. 30 at UCF.

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