COLUMBIA, S.C. – Sophomore Wendell Green Jr. scored a season-high 22 points to lead No. 9 Auburn to an 81-66 win at South Carolina in the team's first SEC road game Tuesday night. The victory extended Auburn's winning streak to 10 games.
Green, who was 7 of 15 from the floor, has now scored in double figures in six straight games coming off the bench. He also added five rebounds and five assists.
"Just knowing that we needed some more energy off the bench, coming into a road game, I tried to bring as much energy as possible," Green said. "That's kind of what got me going today."
Led by Green's 22, the Auburn bench scored 40 of the team's 81 points. Jaylin Williams had a couple dunks and finished with six points off the bench while Chris Moore and Dylan Cardwell chipped in five points apiece. Ten different players scored for the Tigers.
"The bench was vital," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "Dylan was terrific. Chris Moore had great moments. Jaylin had great moments. Lior (Berman) was solid again. Of course, Wendell sort of pads those stats a little bit.
"Wendell has handled the change in rotation. Rather than starting games, he's finishing games. I think he'd rather be out there at the end than the beginning."
Sophomore Walker Kessler, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, posted his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He also added four blocks.
A corner 3 late from Jabari Smith gave him 10 points on the night and made it 11 straight games in double figures for the star freshman. Senior Zep Jasper also scored in double figures with 13 points against South Carolina. He scored the first three points for Auburn who fell behind 6-2 early before going on a 21-4 run to pull ahead.
The Tigers shot 53 percent (29 of 55) at Colonial Life Arena, the same place where they set the program record for points in an SEC road win with 109 in last year's meeting, but it was the defense early that helped Auburn build a 44-29 lead at the half.
"On a night when we didn't really put up big numbers, we were able to really guard them in the first half and didn't get destroyed on the boards, which is what you've got to do against South Carolina," Pearl said. "What we did defensively really disrupted South Carolina in the halfcourt, and our depth was a factor."
Auburn forced 20 South Carolina turnovers and scored 26 points off those turnovers.
"We're a defensive team," Green said. "Just starting with that, that's how we're going to win so many games. We can't rely on making shots every game. We just wanted to key in on the scout and guard them, and that's what we did tonight."
Auburn's current 10-game winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest streak in the country behind Baylor (19), USC (12), Abilene Christian (11) and Colorado State (10).
The Tigers (13-1, 2-0) will put their winning streak on the line again Saturday at home against Florida. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. CT from Auburn Arena.
