Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Men’s Basketball team hosted the Yale Bulldogs in Auburn Arena this afternoon. Auburn has been hot so far this season boasting a record of six wins and one loss, and came into this game off a dominant performance against UCF on Wednesday Night. The Tigers defeated the Knights 85-68.
Yale has been up and down so far this season, going into this game with five wins and four losses. The Bulldogs bested Lehigh Mountain 82-72 in their last outing.
The starters today for Auburn were K.D. Johnson, Zeb Jasper, and Devan Cambridge at guard. Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler were the Auburn starters at forward. Jalen Gabbidon, Eze Dike, Azar Swain, Matthue Cotton, were Yale’s starters at guard, and Isiah Kelly started at forward for the Bulldogs.
Auburn got off to a fast start, scoring seven points in the first two and a half minutes of the game. The same can not be said for Yale, as it took them nearly six minutes to record their first bucket. At halftime, Auburn led 47-30.
K.D. Johnson had 12 points in the first half and Jabari Smith had 11. Jabari Smith led Auburn in rebounds with five, and Zeb Jasper had five assists.
Matthue Cotton was Yale’s leading scorer in the first half with 11 points. EJ Jarvis was their rebounding and assists leader with five and three respectively. Auburn did a great job of staying out of foul trouble, as they had only committed four by halftime. Yale had a little bit tougher of a time with that, having accumulated six by halftime.
Auburn came out of the locker room ready to play in the second half and it did not take long for the Tigers to score some points. Walker Kessler continued to be a blocking machine. Auburn stepped up their defensive game in the second half, holding Yale to just 11 points in the first nine minutes and 34 in the entire second half. Auburn outscored the Bulldogs by five points in the second half, holding on to win 86-64.
K.D. Johnson finished the game with 19 points, he was Auburn’s leading scorer. Jabari Smith also had a great scoring day with 17 points. Devan Cambridge led Auburn in rebounds with 10. Wendell Green JR led the Tigers in assists with six. Matthue Cotton led Yale in scoring with 14 points. EJ Jarvis was their leader in rebounds with eight and in assists with three.
The Auburn players present in the post game press conference today were Devan Cambridge and K.D. Johnson. Devan was asked what it meant to him to record his second career double-double. He said it felt really good and was a good accomplishment.
K.D. Johnson was asked about the balance of bringing energy and keeping a level head. He said “BP just tells me to be myself. He trusts my judgement”. Bruce Pearl was asked about the effectiveness of the early blocking success. He answered “He believes that Yale was coached to not drive to the rim because it was almost like turning the ball over”.
Auburn is in action next Saturday at 11:30 a.m. EST/10:30 a.m. CST against Nebraska in Holiday Hoopsgiving at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. They are back in Auburn Arena the following Tuesday against North Alabama at 8:00 PM
