On Saturday, the Auburn Tigers headed to Athens, Georgia, to take on the Bulldogs.
Auburn hasn't played well there in recent memory, so with star forward Jaylin Williams out, Tiger fans were concerned about this game. In the second half, it got tight, but Auburn left Athens with the 97-76 win.
With Williams out, some players will need to score more as Williams, behind Johni Broome, is Auburn's second-best scorer. What Auburn needed was delivered by Chad Baker-Mazara, Aden Holloway, and Chaney Johnson. Baker-Mazara scored a career-high 25 while Holloway added 15 points on 5-8 from deep, and Johnson had 16 points on 6-9 shooting. In the NCAA Tournament, one player always seems to step up on the big stage. Think of J'Von McCormick during the Final Four run or Tre Donaldson a year ago. Playing without Williams gives some of the other players on Auburn's roster the chance to get hot right before the tournament comes.
Coach Pearl had this to say about playing without Williams after the win, "Coming in without Jaylin Williams, we had to change some things up," Pearl said. "So, we put three different guys in the starting lineup. Starting Chad Baker-Mazara — Chad Baker-Mazara was the best player on the floor tonight. He was certainly the best player on the floor tonight. Trusted him with the ball in his hands as a playmaker. Obviously, he makes shots, gets fouls, makes free throws. He shot seven of the 16 free throws that we had tonight. Made them all."
If Auburn goes on a deep run in March and one of these three players is scoring a lot of points, you can look back and say their extra playing while Williams was banged up served this team well in the end.
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