AUBURN, Ala. – Jabari Smith hit seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points to lead No. 2 Auburn to a 94-80 victory vs. Vanderbilt Wednesday, improving the Tigers to 14-0 at Auburn Arena.
"I feel like I haven't been shooting like I know I'm capable of," said Smith, the first Auburn freshman to score 30 since Toney Douglas in 2004-05. "We got off to a cold start. I just tried to do what I could to pick the team up and get us going. Wasn't really anything to it – just got hot a little bit out there. Keep finding open looks, playing for each other, and we'll start making open shots."
Smith hit a trio of treys before the first media timeout of the second half to tie his previous best of 25 points while giving Auburn a 53-46 lead, adding his final 3 a few minutes later.
"Jabari was spectacular," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "You could see what an amazing jump shooter he is. He got them in rhythm and he was open. It was nice to see us finally make shots."
"That's why you come to Auburn," Smith said. "[Coach Pearl] is going to trust you and let you shoot your shot. He gives you that confidence. We know our shots are going to fall sooner or later. It's our job to stay in the gym and make shots."
The freshman phenom surpassed the 30-point mark with a late baseline jumper before heading to the bench with 31 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Smith sank 7 of 10 3-point attempts to join former Tigers Bryce Brown, Samir Doughty, Mustapha Heron and Jared Harper in the 30-point club in the Pearl era.
Walker Kessler filled the stat sheet with a career-high 22 points, adding seven rebounds and seven blocked shots.
"Our team's depth, on any given night, any guy can have a career night," Kessler said. "Tonight happened to be Jabari."
Wendell Green Jr. also flirted with a triple-double, tallying 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, helping Auburn amass a 32-15 lead in bench points.
"I thought our bench was terrific," Pearl said. "We put the ball in his hands and ask him to do a lot. We got really good point guard play out of Wen. He did a great job getting the ball out of traps. It was fun to watch him tonight."
With five games remaining, the Tigers lead Kentucky and Tennessee by two games in the race for the SEC regular season championship.
Auburn scored 52 points in the second half while shooting 70.8 percent from the field, a dramatic improvement after a slow start.
The Tigers ended the first half on a 7-0 run to lead 42-38 after overcoming an early double-digit deficit.
"We understood we needed to keep doing what we were doing and put an emphasis on knocking down shots," Kessler said. "We had to slow them down and guard better."
The Commodores scored the game's first 11 points before Smith got Auburn on the board with a 3-pointer.
Devan Cambridge's 3-pointer tied the score at 14-14, capping an 11-0 Auburn run that featured K.D. Johnson's reverse layup and step-back 3-pointer.
"From that 15-minute mark on when we got the bench guys in there and they started to guard and make plays, that was the key," Pearl said.
Vanderbilt hit a pair of 3-pointers before Kessler scored six straight Auburn points. The Tigers trailed 30-22 when Smith took over down the stretch, scoring 12 consecutive points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
"Our frontcourt collectively is one of the best in the nation," Kessler said. "It's a very deep frontcourt."
"It's the best frontcourt I've ever had anywhere," Pearl said.
Kessler gave the Tigers their first lead on a pair of free throws in the final minute, then extended Auburn's advantage to four points when Green fed him for a dunk with five seconds remaining in the half.
Smith scored 16 points in the half while Kessler added 10.
Auburn (24-2, 12-1) travels to Florida Saturday to play the Gators at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
