Auburn, Ala. - January 22, 2020
The Tigers beat the Gamecocks 80-67.
The Tigers could not have started out any worse. They missed their first six three-pointers and looked to still be in a slump after back-to-back losses. The Tigers needed a spark to get going offensively in the first half. That spark was Devin Cambridge. Cambridge hit his first five shots which included 4 three-pointers. Cambridge lead the Tigers in scoring at halftime with 14 points. "BP (Bruce Pearl) he just told me to be confident and I had to step up today," said Cambridge. "I just played my game, my teammates found me and I was just making my shots today."
The Tigers defense needed no spark. The Gamecocks had multiple scoring droughts in the first half which helped Auburn escape an early first half deficit. The Tigers forced 10 turnovers in the first half and at one point forced three straight turnovers.
The Tigers shocked maybe everyone in the arena by making their first 10 free-throws of the game, a far-cry from their performances at the line the past two games. These free-throws helped the Tigers take a 39-31 lead into halftime. The Tigers would finish the game 18-21 from the line.
The Tigers could not build on their lead to start the second half and after five minutes the lead was 48-47. What happened next was the Devin Cambridge show. Cambridge would explode for 12 points in five minutes which helped the Tigers take a 70-53 lead. "Quote". Cambridge finished with 26 points on the night. "He came up for us big time, making those shots," said J'von Mccormick. "Got some energy plays, getting dunks and rebounds."
The Tigers biggest lead of the game would come with 7:14 left in the second half after a Doughty free-throw put them up 78-57. The Tigers would take it easy the rest of the game as they picked up their fourth SEC win. "We only had 15 assists last weekend and so we worked really hard on some things," said Coach Bruce Pearl. "We feel like we got guards who can go by people, but when we were going by people we weren't play making enough. We worked really hard on that this week."
The Tigers get back to their winning ways, but the SEC schedule will only get tougher for the Tigers. If the Tigers can have great bench production like Cambridge had tonight, the wins will keep rolling in.
