COLUMBIA, Mo. – K.D. Johnson wasn't going to let No. 1 Auburn lose Tuesday night. The sophomore guard scored five points in the final 90 seconds, and the road Tigers hung on to beat Missouri, 55-54, and extend its winning streak to 16 games.
With Auburn trailing 51-50 and less than two minutes remaining, Johnson took charge.
"We needed a bucket, and I just went for it," he said. "I didn't really care how it was going to come or who it was going to come from. The ball came to me at the moment, so I just took it."
First, Johnson converted a 3-point play where he drove baseline, spun back to the middle and finished through contact. It put Auburn ahead 53-51 with 1:27 left. Then, after a Missouri turnover, he got the ball and drove inside again, fighting up another tough lay-in under the basket to make it 55-51.
"K.D. is a dangerous man," head coach Bruce Pearl said. "He's not afraid of the moment."
The second make from Johnson proved to be the clinching basket. Missouri made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one, but after Auburn ran the shot clock all way down and missed a shot, Walker Kessler battled on the glass to keep the ball alive and never allowed the home team to get another chance. The clock ran out as the ball went out of bounds.
For Auburn, it was the program's first ever game as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25.
"We finally got No. 1, we're happy about it, but that's not the final step for us," Johnson said. "We're just focused on trying to get wins everywhere we go now. There's a big prize on our head because we're No. 1. Everybody is going to give us their best shot. We're just trying to stay together wherever we go and try to get the W."
Johnson led the Tigers with 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting. He had another stretch of five straight points in the first half as part of an 11-1 run that gave Auburn its first lead at 28-27. He also added three steals, all coming in the first 20 minutes.
Kessler was the only other Auburn player in double figures as he finished with 13 points and pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds to record his sixth double-double of the season.
On a night where Auburn struggled from the field, it was the defense and rebounding efforts that proved to be the difference. Auburn held Missouri without a field goal for over eight straight minutes in the second half. Auburn also outrebounded Missouri, 48-38, and finished with 25 offensive rebounds – 20 of those coming in the second half.
"We had 25 offensive rebounds," Pearl said. "You talk about guys playing with effort and energy. That's what it's all about."
Junior Devan Cambridge pulled down nine offensive rebounds, all in the second half, while seven of Kessler's 12 rebounds came on the offensive glass.
Freshman Jabari Smith finished with 10 rebounds, and while he struggled with his shot, he made a clutch jumper in the final five minutes. Smith and Jaylin Williams also combined to hold Missouri's leading scorer, Kobe Brown, to just eight points.
"Maybe we had a little bit of a letdown tonight because we weren't very sharp offensively," Pearl said. "We'll see how we respond. But a team with a lesser character would not have been able to come back and win this game."
With the win, Auburn moves to 19-1 on the season and 8-0 in SEC play. The Tigers will go out of conference Saturday when they host Oklahoma in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
