AUBURN | We might never know what Bruce Pearl said to his team at halftime of Friday night's game, but with the Tigers trailing Louisiana-Monroe 39-37, you can be sure that it wasn't a speech full of pleasantries.

Whatever he said, it worked as the Tigers came out at halftime with an energy and precision that was nowhere in the first 20 minutes. After a quick basket by the Warhawks' Trey Boston, the Tigers rolled off seven straight points, the last coming on a K.D. Johnson three-pointer to give Auburn its first lead since the 7:50 mark in the opening half.

The Tigers never trailed again, rolling to a 93-65 victory to improve to 2-0 on the young season. The player many people came to watch, Jabari Smith Jr., was the star and proved why many consider him a high draft pick, recording his first collegiate double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. At one point, the freshman grabbed a rebound, dribbled behind the back near half-court losing his defender and drove to the rim for the bucket. It wasn't something you usually see from a 6-foot-10 forward.

"You can flat out see what people are talking about when he offensively took over," Pearl said. "Jabari has an advanced skill set, very advanced."

Yet the spark that Auburn needed after the porous start came from Chris Moore off the bench. After making just two free throws before halftime, the sophomore forward was a huge part of the run that put the Warhawks away. In 10 minutes, he put up 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a couple of crowd-pleasing and-ones, and grabbed four rebounds. He finished with a career-high 16 points.

Pearl had nothing but praise for the person he says is the favorite in the locker room.

"We really need his physicality because that is something that is a challenge for us," the coach said. "He has such a great personality. He's so unselfish. He's so happy for everyone else's success."

The backcourt combination of K.D. Johnson and Wendell Green Jr. combined for 33 points. Johnson scored 11 of his 18 points after halftime, hitting all three-point attempts.

"He is productive," Pearl said of Johnson. "He is talented. He is unselfish. He is not afraid of the moment."

Pearl might not like how his team started, but he undoubtedly enjoyed how they finished.