NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Bruce Pearl has been harping defense to his young Auburn team. Message received. The Tigers held Vanderbilt to 67 points Tuesday night and made winning plays down the stretch to earn a 73-67 victory on the road.
"It's great to get a win on the road in the league," the Auburn head coach said.
Offensively, it was Jamal Johnson who had the hot hand for the Tigers. The junior guard finished with 19 points and was 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. It's the fourth time this season where Johnson has made five or more 3s in a game, including three times in SEC play.
"I came off my teammates and my coaches put me in positions to be successful," Johnson said. "The rim kept getting bigger and bigger, and I just kept hitting shots."
Fellow guard Sharife Cooper matched Johnson with 19 points and scored 18 of his 19 in the second half. The freshman was 10 of 11 from the free throw line and also dished out a team-high seven assists without committing a turnover. Two of his assists came on back-to-back possessions early in the second half when he threw lobs to Devan Cambridge and Allen Flanigan for alley-oop dunks.
"Sharife played great in the second half," Pearl said. "He didn't have a turnover in the game. That was just fun to watch. He's so hard to guard, so unselfish. It's why you've got to have a great quarterback. You put it in their hands and let them make plays."
Cambridge and Flanigan both finished in double figures as well despite neither player registering a point in the first half. Cambridge had 11 points and made a clutch 3 late while Flanigan added 10 and made four consecutive free throws in the final minute to help seal the victory.
Cooper, Cambridge and Flanigan combined to score 39 points in the second half after the trio had just one point combined in the first 20 minutes. Auburn, who trailed 25-23 at the break, responded with 50 points in the second half and shot 14 of 27 from the field, 6 of 9 from deep and 16 of 18 from the free throw line.
"I feel like sometimes you just start off slow," Johnson said. "But once you get in the groove, everybody starts clicking, and you keep going, keep grinding, keep working – everything is going to work out."
Both teams started slow Tuesday night. It was 25-23 in favor of the Commodores at the half. But credit the Auburn defense for keeping the Tigers close. At one point during the first half, they held Vanderbilt without a field goal for seven minutes during what was a 12-1 Auburn run.
Johnson, who scored nine straight points during the 12-1 run, was the lone Auburn player in double figures at halftime with 13 of the team's 23 points.
The Tigers also won the battle on the boards, 43-34. Jaylin Williams pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds, one off his career high. Flanigan was second on the team with seven rebounds while fellow starter JT Thor grabbed six boards. Eight different Auburn players had at least three rebounds on the night.
It was the fourth straight win for Auburn in the series, which marks the first time the Tigers have beaten Vanderbilt four straight times since winning six in a row from 1984-86.
Auburn (11-10, 5-7) will travel to Kentucky on Saturday with a chance to sweep the season series with the Wildcats. The Tigers won the first matchup, 66-59, in Auburn Arena on Jan. 16.