In the sport of basketball, it is fairly normal to see how big of playmakers guards can be on the court during a game. For evidence of that, take a look at the tape of the Auburn Tigers taking on the Samford Bulldogs on Thursday night in Neville Arena.
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Steven Pearl’s squad took down Samford 80-68 in its final exhibition game of the preseason before the regular season tips off on Nov. 4.
It is usual that the guards have more points than the inside players. On Thursday, the disparity was quite large.
Out of the 80 points that the Tigers scored, 70 of those were from the backcourt, leaving the final 10 by forwards and centers.
Pearl’s immediate thoughts after the game were that Auburn took better shots, especially from deep. However, there is still a lot to work on, including getting to the charity stripe way more often.
“Got a nice boost with Kolby, allowing him to play in this game,” Pearl said. “I thought he came and gave us a really nice boost. I wish we would have played him in the second half. There were some positives and obviously a lot we have to learn from. Tahaad and KO—it helps when those guys make shots. And Caleb. Twelve-for-29 (from 3)—I thought we took less bad ones. Made some tough ones late in both halves, which is really important. But we've got to get to the foul line more.”
Junior guard Tahaad Pettiford was one of the top contributors on the night, putting up 20 points from the field to close out the preseason.
He said that coming in, his preparation had helped him in a big way, allowing him to find shot opportunites often and get in a groove.
“I felt good today coming out,” Pettiford said. “We kind of knew that they were going to be playing the type of defense they were playing. So just preparing throughout the week, knowing I was going to get those shots in. When game time came, they fell. So just kind of went with the flow.”
But it was a solid night for others as well, even if it did not show up on the stat sheet as much. One prime example of that was the play of Kolby King, who made his debut after recently being granted eligibility for the coming season.
King may have only had four points, but those four points helped kickstart a 16-2 swing to the end the first half of play, knocking down a 3-pointer and converting the and-one to follow.
What stood out even more was his +7 margin in his four-and-a-half minutes of play, making his impact off the bench that much greater.
“Having that depth is really important,” Pearl said. “It allows you to really compete more and go best-on-best a little bit more. And it allows those guys to kind of, like last week going into Alabama, have more competitive practices and allow those guys to continue to improve on some of the things we've got to clean up.”
True freshman Caleb Williams also showed up, knocking down 14 points to go along with four rebounds and one assist.
According to Pearl, he has been a player that has been wiser beyond his status of being a freshman, and even though there are the mistakes that expose his youth, he still gets through them and is capable of being a star for the program.
“He doesn't play like a freshman—which I think is very encouraging,” Pearl said. “He's incredibly coachable, which really helps when a freshman is willing to take the coaching the way that he does. You've got to let him play through mistakes and you've got to let him be confident. As you saw, even though they may not have been great shots, he's capable of making tough shots. He showed that in tonight's game, especially late in that second half.”
The Tigers were led on the night by Kevin Overton, who put up 25 points with eight rebounds and two assists, making it 45 combined points between him and Pettiford in the win.
Auburn tips off the regular season against Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. at Neville Arena.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
