Auburn defeated Lehigh 74-51 after a sluggish first half. The brightest spot for the Tigers early and often was senior Austin Wiley who was dominant on the boards and led Auburn to the convincing win.
In the first half alone, Wiley put up six points and grabbed eight rebounds while only playing 11 minutes. Auburn made it a point of emphasis to feed him in the paint and in the post.
Wiley finished the game with 14 points and 15 rebounds with only 20 minutes on the floor and was eight-for-eight from the free throw line. Wiley explained how he has improved his free throw shooting.
“Last year, I wasn’t satisfied,” Wiley said. “I think I shot 40-something percent from the line and I knew that wasn’t acceptable. Coach Ryan Langford got me in the gym for hours, so we just improved it and it showed tonight.”
In his last four games, Wiley is averaging a double-double with 11.3 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game.
“I try to impact the game every time I step out there,” Wiley said. “I feel like there’s a whole different level I could be playing at, so I just got to. I’m trying to play the perfect game, but I just haven’t gotten there yet, so stay tuned.”
Wiley recorded his fourth double-double of the season against the Mountain Hawks and Coach Bruce Pearl is impressed.
“Well, he's healthy,” Pearl said. “He's moving so well. He's jumping, he's lighter, he's a physical presence in there but he moves like the great athlete that he is. The last couple years, with the injuries and being out, he was bigger, and he was slower. That's not the player he is. He is a mobile big man. He is a powerful big man, explosive big man. He's playing like that at both ends of the floor.”
Austin Wiley dominated on a night Auburn needed it most with the Tigers making just six three-pointers. J’Von McCormick made three of those three-pointers for Auburn on consecutive possessions.
When Auburn needed the offense to come through, it looked to Wiley inside where he was close to unstoppable tonight.
Auburn will have to wait eight days to see if Austin Wiley can continue his great play. Lipscomb will travel to Auburn Arena on December 29th for a Sunday afternoon showdown on SEC Network.
