How Auburn basketball escaped Missouri with ugly 55-54 win

There's a cliché across sports about great teams buckling under the newfound gaze of a national microscope, or playing a bit hungover after a big win.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl doesn't think his Tigers walked into the trap at Missouri.

Either way, they barely lived to tell the tale.

K.D. Johnson scored the last five points, Walker Kessler's offensive rebounding killed the final five seconds of a frenetic finish, and Auburn escaped Missouri (8-11, 2-5 SEC) with an ugly 55-54 win Tuesday night. The Tigers (19-1, 8-0) have won 16 consecutive games and five after trailing by double digits this season.

"We obviously took it seriously. We obviously played hard," Pearl said. "We just didn't play well. And (Missouri) had a lot to do with it. Not that we weren't ready to play or couldn't handle the (No. 1 Associated Press) ranking."

Parched, until a hero emerges

After attempting just 16 shots outside the arc against Kentucky, Auburn got into a bad habit of forcing 3-pointers against Missouri, attempting 16 by halftime. The Tigers missed nine consecutive shots at one point. Seven consecutive at another.

And they were just getting started.

The second half was a war of attrition. Missouri had an eight-minute stretch without a field goal, but by the time the home team finally made one, it cut Auburn's lead to 44-43. The visiting Tigers had made three of their last 23 shots, including a five-minute scoreless stretch.

Auburn shot 21-for-70 from the field (29.4%) and 6-for-28 outside (21%). Johnson was the saving grace: Down 51-50 in the last two minutes, he finished two straight contested buckets at the rim — one while fouled — to complete a team-leading 17-point outing.

"We needed a bucket, and I just went for it," Johnson said. "I didn't really care how it was going to come, or who it was going to come from. And the ball came to me at the moment, so I just took it."

"Late in the game," Pearl said, "K.D. is just a dangerous man."

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Lessons from Jabari Smith's silent night

At the center of Auburn's shooting struggles was its best player, freshman Jabari Smith. As Pearl has said, "there are times when we’ve got No. 10 and you don’t." But Tuesday was a reminder that some nights, you can't just rely on No. 10.

Smith shot 2-for-15 from the field and 1-for-7 outside, scoring five points. All things considered, it's impressive that this was the 18-year-old's first true off night.

And most importantly: "We can win when Jabari doesn't have a big offensive night," Pearl said.

Early rebounding deficits are becoming a problem

The sources of Auburn's early deficits need to be addressed.

Inadequate rebounding is the leading trend. Auburn lost 22-15 on the glass in the first half to Missouri and had been outscored 8-0 in second-chance points in a 26-17 game. Losing the offensive glass early was a problem before the comebacks against Kentucky, Ole Miss and Saint Louis, too.

In a full-circle moment, the game ended with Auburn's own offensive rebounding: Kessler batted the ball around the rim at the end of the shot clock, punishing Missouri for defending with a five-second clock difference. Kessler finished with 13 points and 12 boards.

"Our rebounding was huge," Pearl said. "It kept us in the game."

Auburn completely flipped the script and out-rebounded Missouri 33-16 after halftime, but the slow starts are a growing concern.

Bizarre stat line for Devan Cambridge

The rebounding improved in the second half, led by Devan Cambridge's remarkable toughness on the glass. He missed scoring opportunities at the line but kept Auburn in the rock fight with nine rebounds — all of them offensive, and all of them in the second half.

Cambridge's increased time resulted from a rough first half for starting wing Allen Flanigan. He shot 1-for-6 with four turnovers before halftime.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Auburn basketball escaped Missouri with ugly 55-54 win