Five takeaways from Auburn basketball’s 68-54 win over Southern Indiana

I’m already in love with this team.

Auburn didn’t shoot the basketball well, they were sloppy throughout the entire game, and were down 9-0 early in the contest. I still love them.

The Tigers defeated Southern Indiana 68-54 in their exhibition game on Friday night. Devan Cambridge lead Auburn with 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting. Isaiah Swope of USI led all scorers with 15 points, knocking down a trio of threes.

Overall, as to be expected, the Tigers were sloppy, but this keep in mind this was an exhibition game. AU’s Final Four squad lost their exhibition game.

Here are five takeaways from Auburns win over USI.

The intensity is there

Auburn’s defense wasn’t always there in transition (10 fast break points for USI), but the Tigers had themselves a block party (12 blocks, six of which came from Walker Kessler).

Auburn held USI scoreless for the last nine minutes and two seconds. That stat is incredibly impressive.

KD Johnson is an absolute dog and we got to see it on a couple of physical drives to the basket.

Jabari Smith was cold

Smith shot 3 for 11 from the floor, and never got hot in this game. The talent is obviously there, and he’ll get better as the season progresses. He still finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Devan Cambridge looked improved

Cambridge, to my surprise, led all Tigers with 13 points, knocking down 3 of 4 triples. Based off of what we’ve seen from him in the past, the consistency we saw tonight likely won’t continue throughout the season. But, props to Cambridge for a solid outing. Let’s hope it continues.

Auburn struggled to shoot close to the rim, but not from deep

Auburn was 8 for 21 on layups (38.1%) against the Screaming Eagles, but they shot 8 of 20 from beyond the arc (40.0%).

“I think that offensively we slopped through a lot of things,” Coach Bruce Pearl said following the game. If Auburn is going to survive non-conference play, that 38% clip is going to have to go way up with a roster that includes four players 6-10 or taller that get minutes.

The offense moves better with Zep Jasper at point guard

A lot of this has to do with his experience in my opinion, He’s a better ball-handler than Wendell Green Jr. in pressure situations it seems. Not to knock on Green, who looks like a baby Jared Harper, my favorite player to ever play basketball.

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