AUBURN, Ala. – Austin Wiley's fourth double-double of the season helped No. 12 Auburn improve to 11-0 with a 74-51 win Saturday over Lehigh at Auburn Arena, the fewest points the Tigers have allowed this season.
"Our defense was again the difference," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "Our coaches do an outstanding job with game planning. We've got a pretty good ability to affect the outcome of games. We kind of wore them down a little bit."
Wiley grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds and scored 14 points, going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, as the Tigers made 63 percent of their 2-point baskets and 79 percent of their free throws.
"I try to impact the game every time I step out there," Wiley said. "I feel like there's a whole another level that I could be playing at. I'm trying to play the perfect game but I haven't gotten there yet, so stay tuned."
J'Von McCormick hit a trio of 3-pointers in 65 seconds to help the Tigers pull away down the stretch.
"I just felt like I couldn't miss," McCormick said. "After I shot the first one and I made it, I got the ball in transition, I already knew I was going to shoot it, and my teammates knew it, so I just shot it and it went in.
"The third possession I called for a screen. He (Wiley) did a good job of sealing, and I came off and shot it."
McCormick's off-the-backboard assist on Devan Cambridge's dunk provided the game's exclamation point, putting Auburn ahead 71-49 with 1:53 to play.
"Devan Cambridge is a freak athlete," McCormick said. "In transition I looked back and I saw him. We made that connection. I just threw it off the backboard. I knew he was going to catch it so I wasn't worried."
McCormick led Auburn with 18 points, adding four assists and zero turnovers in 29 minutes.
The Tigers have won 23 of their last 24 games and 27 consecutive non-conference home games over the past four seasons.
Anfernee McLemore blocked six shots, adding seven rebounds and nine points.
Auburn led 27-20 at the half after holding Lehigh scoreless over the final 7:17 of the first half.
Trailing 20-13 after missing its first 10 3-point attempts, Samir Doughty started a 14-0 run with a corner 3.
Isaac Okoro's reverse layup after McLemore's assist tied the score at 20-20, energizing the crowd.
Danjel Purifoy assisted on McCormick's 3 to give Auburn its first lead since the opening minutes.
Auburn outscored Lehigh 17-0 on fast-break points, 21-2 on bench points and 30-9 in points off turnovers.
"Getting a little bit of an identity of our ability to make plays, turn people over, create some offense from our defense, is our biggest opportunity to win games," Pearl said.
The Tigers will enjoy an eight-day holiday break before returning to Auburn Arena Dec. 29 against Lipscomb at 3 p.m. CT, their final tune-up before SEC play begins Jan. 4 at Mississippi State.
"The champion of our conference this year is going to be the team that gets up for every night," Pearl said. "That defends every night, that's excited to play every night, because there's so much parity.
"There's nobody that's that much better than anybody else. That's why we're undefeated is because for the most part we've played with pretty good effort and energy. We've got to shoot it better and execute better. We've got to prepare better."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
Headed into the break 1️⃣1️⃣-0️⃣#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/kweZAelvrU
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) December 22, 2019