Despite slow start from the field, Auburn powered past Furman in Sunday’s charity exhibition, winning 83-62.
While there were still plenty of things head coach Bruce Pearl would like to see improved, getting a 20-point road win is always a good sign.
“It‘s a 20-point road win,” Pearl said. “This is a team that would be like, say, App State, and we went to App State last year and got beat. And so, from that standpoint, I’m pleased with the outcome.”
The Tigers started 0-for-10 from the field, but 11 steals and 19 second chance points helped the Tigers overcome some of the poor shooting. They finished shooting just 18% from 3-point range, but the defensive effort and 70-47 shot attempt advantage closed the gap.
Johni Broome led Auburn in scoring with 18 while also grabbing 14 rebounds. He was also the first one to break Auburn‘s 0-for-10 start from the field, scoring Auburn’s first points of the game on an open dunk.
Arguably the most notable performance of the day, though, came from freshmen Tahaad Pettiford. In his first game action with Auburn, he scored 13 points and knocked down two early 3-pointers.
On a day where Auburn couldn‘t find much in the way of 3-point shooting, Pettiford’s success was encouraging, especially from someone playing in his first college game.
Pearl was pleased with both he and fellow freshman Jahki Howard’s performances, with Howard also finishing in double figures with 10 points.
“You could see the talent the freshmen have,” Pearl said. “You can see that Jahki and Tahaad have some real quickness, some real athleticism. They‘re both really good right now and they’re both gonna be really good.”
More than anything else, though, Auburn won the game with defense. The Tigers forced Furman into 18 turnovers and held the Paladins to 36% shooting from the field.
“To turn them over 18 times I thought was good,” Bruce Pearl said after the game. “We’re not going to be able to turn everybody over like that.”
Despite the 21-point win, Pearl wasn‘t completely satisfied with his team’s performance, especially on offense.
“We missed a lot of shots. Front line in the first half only made three baskets,” Pearl said. “I think if we go back and look at the tape, we like where we got the ball, but we just obviously didn’t finish and execute.”
Auburn’s first live action in front of its home fans will take place this Friday in a charity exhibition against Florida Atlantic. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com
