The Auburn Tigers wasted no time Friday night taking care of the Washington Huskies. The Tigers won the game, 88-66 in front of a packed house and the SEC Network, and what was the 3rd largest win over a ranked opponent in school history.
The final score may say Auburn won by 22, but it was much worse than that. Auburn led at halftime by 18, and got the lead up to 30 at one point before emptying the bench with just over 2 minutes remaining.
Chuma Okeke led all scorers with 19 points, also tallying 10 rebounds and 2 assists as he continues his ascend as the best draft prospect on this team. (Side note: there were over 20 NBA scouts in attendance at Auburn Arena to watch this game)
Washington’s 2-3 zone defense was no match for the Tigers, as they constantly shared the ball and found open looks while shooting 39% from behind the arc.
The Tigers hit 8 3-pointers in the first half and 12 altogether in the game.
Although this game was pure domination, there were 3 notable storylines.
1. Noah Dickerson, the leader of this team and center, finished with 12 points in just 16 minutes due to fouling out, one due to a questionable technical foul given after Dickerson dunked and yelled something.
With Dickerson out, the Huskies struggled on the boards as they were out-rebounded, 39-21.
2. Austin Wiley returned in his first action since March 2017 and scored 4 points but got into a little bit of foul trouble. The plan all along was to take it slow with Wiley so it was not a surprise to not see Austin on the court very much.
3. Samir Doughty had his official coming out party on Friday night. The transfer added 18 points, to go along with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. The Philadelphia native is going to be a big factor for Auburn this season.
Auburn will return to action next Wednesday to take on Mississippi College at 7 pm at Auburn Arena. the game will be televised on SEC Network+.
