FORT MYERS, Fla. – Less than 24 hours after an overtime victory to open the season, Auburn suffered its first defeat of 2020-21 with a 90-67 loss to No. 1 Gonzaga on Friday in the second game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
"We were obviously disappointed we didn't play better," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "Gonzaga had a lot to do with that. Their two great players, (Drew) Timme and (Corey) Kispert, both dominated the game as you would expect. That said, we know a lot more about us now than we did about 24 hours ago. It's something to build on."
Sophomore Allen Flanigan paced the Tigers with a career-high 20 points, including 15 in the second half. Coming out of the break, he made back-to-back 3s and then threw down a left-handed slam as he scored the first 10 points for Auburn after halftime. He finished 7 of 11 from the field and also grabbed five rebounds.
Flanigan has now scored 10 or more points in each of the team's first two games after scoring in double figures just once in 31 games last year as a freshman.
"I just played to my strengths," he said. "They tried to shade my left hand, and it gave me room to shoot the ball. You've just got to take shots."
Freshman JT Thor and junior Jamal Johnson joined Flanigan in double figures with 11 points apiece. It was a career high for Thor who was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line while Johnson knocked down three shots from long range to lead the Auburn bench. As a team, the Tigers held a 25-14 advantage in bench points against Gonzaga.
"These two games have been a lot like practice," Pearl said. "We've got 10 or 11 good players. The cream hasn't risen to the top because we've got really good balance. We'd like to try to find five guys who are a little better than the other five guys, but that has not been the case."
Freshman Justin Powell added seven points off the bench and led the Tigers with six rebounds and three assists. In Thursday's win, Powell scored 17 points and pulled down seven boards. He's only turned the ball over twice in Auburn's first two games.
Gonzaga's Drew Timme and Corey Kispert led all scorers Friday with 28 and 25 respectively.
The Tigers, who outscored Gonzaga 17-10 over the final eight minutes, will remain in the Sunshine State and travel to UCF for a game Monday.
"We knew we had three games," Pearl said. "We've got another short turnaround. The takeaway (from today) is which team is going to get better more throughout the season? Auburn or Gonzaga? If we continue to get better, we will have a chance to be a competitive team this year. That's the challenge."
Monday's game at UCF is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Flanigan scores career-high 20 in loss to No. 1 Gonzaga
