Nov. 5, 2012
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AUBURN -
Nov. 5, 2012
AUBURN - Noel Johnson recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Asauhn Dixon-Tatum added 11 points, four rebounds and four blocks as Auburn used a 12-0 second half run to take a commanding lead in a 66-50 win over Georgia Southwestern in Monday's exhibition finale in Auburn Arena.
"[Slow starts] shouldn't happen," Auburn head coach Tony Barbee said. "We have a veteran group starting. We want to make the other team match our intensity and match our play. That wasn't the case for the second straight game. We started better against Victory, but against a higher level opponent, they were working at about a thousand miles an hour and we were about 200. Those are all things that are correctible. When we got into our pace, we made some things hard on them."
Frankie Sullivan's steal and dunk capped the 12-0 run that pushed the Tigers firmly in front with 7:42 left in the game. The dunk followed consecutive 3-pointers from the senior guard and Noel Johnson. Josh Wallace had a pair of free throws and Shareif Adamu added a dunk in the run that left the Tigers in front 56-41.
Back to back 3-pointers by Allen Payne ended a scoring drought of nearly five minutes for the Tigers with 10:13 to go in the first half. Jordon Granger's dunk in transition briefly tied the game at 22 with 5:20 left as Auburn erased a deficit that was once as wide as eight points.
Dixon-Tatum converted a hook shot in the paint for Auburn's first lead of the night at 26-24 with 4:12 to go before halftime. The Tigers' largest lead of the first half came at 32-27 with 1:53 left.
Jordan Price knocked down his lone 3-pointer of the night with 1:03 remaining to give the Tigers an 18-point lead, 66-48, their largest of the game.
All 11 Tigers who played scored in the game, and Wallace scored eight points and added five assists and four steals.
Michael Tankersley and Matt Shaw both scored 10 points to lead Georgia Southwestern.
Auburn is in action next on Friday when it opens the 2012-13 regular season against IPFW in Auburn Arena at 7 p.m. Central.