PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Jabari Smith poured in 22 points Friday to lead No. 19 Auburn past Syracuse, 89-68, in the fifth-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The freshman scored in double figures in all three games in The Bahamas.
After a double overtime loss in the opening round, the Tigers bounced back to beat Loyola Chicago and Syracuse on back-to-back days to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Junior Devan Cambridge delivered the exclamation point for Auburn against the Orange on Friday with a reverse alley-oop dunk in the closing minutes. It was one of nine dunks for the Tigers who found success against Syracuse's patented zone defense. There was a stretch early in the second half where they converted lobs on three straight possessions.
Auburn only turned it over seven times for the game against Syracuse.
"When you've got Jabari Smith and Jaylin Williams in the middle of a zone like that – you're trying to get them the ball, you put it in their hands and you just trust them," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "You trust them to get inside out, you trust them to get to the rim, you trust them to make plays. They're both terrific playmakers."
Smith, an All-Tournament Team selection, added six rebounds and four assists while Williams finished with nine points, a team-best seven rebounds and two assists off the bench.
The Tigers only had three players score in double figures with Smith (22), Cambridge (10) and K.D. Johnson (15), but they got contributions from everybody in Friday's victory as all 10 players in the primary rotation scored. Auburn's bench outscored Syracuse's bench, 33-11.
"I thought our bench was terrific," Pearl said. "Wendell (Green) coming off the bench, Jaylin coming off the bench, Chris Moore. And then Lior Berman gave us huge minutes. And our guys feed off that when our 10th man is out there balling. That gives you great confidence."
Berman knocked down 3s on consecutive possessions midway through the first half to give Auburn a boost and cap a 16-3 run.
The Tigers carried a 10-point advantage into halftime thanks to a putback shot from Wendell Green Jr. at the buzzer to make it 43-33. The play was set up by a steal from Johnson, one of three steals in the first half by Johnson who had 9 of his 15 points before the half.
Johnson averaged 16.3 points per game and had 14 steals in three games in The Bahamas.
"K.D. is a playmaker," Pearl said. "He's aggressive. I love the fact that he makes a lot of good decisions to come off the ball. He has a feel for when a guy needs some help, and he's willing to go make a play. And when he goes in, he usually gets it. He's kind of like a shark. With a little blood in the water, he sees that blood and he goes and gets it."
Coming off the bench for the third straight game, Green led Auburn with seven assists against Syracuse. Sophomore Dylan Cardwell also made a significant off the bench with six points, six rebounds and a block in 17 minutes on the court.
The Tigers dominated inside, winning the battle on the boards 38-28, and outscoring the Orange in the paint by a margin of 42-26. They also had five blocks and 11 steals.
Auburn will return to the court next Wednesday, Dec. 4 to take on UCF. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. CT from Auburn Arena.
"Mentally I feel like we're in a good place," Smith said. "We feel like we should've won three games, but we came here to win two and we did that. I know we got better through the losses, through the wins, through the bad spurts and through the good spurts."
