Rewinding men's 87-69 exhibition win against UAH

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Rewinding Auburn basketball’s 87-69 exhibition win against UAH

Updated: Nov. 02, 2022, 9:16 p.m.|Published: Nov. 02, 2022, 6:41 p.m.

7-9 minutes

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Auburn gave its home crowd a sneak peek of what to expect this season with a convincing tune-up victory against in-state Division II program UAH.

In its lone preseason exhibition ahead of Monday’s season opener against George Mason at Neville Arena, No. 15 Auburn cruised to a 87-69 victory against UAH, the 24th-ranked team in Division II. Auburn went with an 11-man rotation until the final minutes, when it cleared the bench and got some walk-ons into the game late. Ten of those 11 rotation players scored against the Chargers, with Stretch Akingbola the lone one without a point.

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Jaylin Williams scored 16 points before fouling out late to lead four Auburn players in double figures. Wendell Green Jr. finished with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Allen Flanigan had 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, as he looked more like his sophomore self. Freshman Tre Donaldson, meanwhile, added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds in his soft opening at Neville Arena.

Below is a blow-by-blow recap of the game. Stay tuned to al.com/auburnbasketball for full postgame coverage.

FINAL: Auburn 87, UAH 69

-- Lior Berman and Chandler Leopard have checked in, making it 13-deep for Auburn tonight. Tigers up 22 with 2:14 to play as Jaylin Williams fouls out with 16 points and four boards.

-- Auburn 80, UAH 61 (3:51) | Under-4 timeout: Jaylin Williams checks back in, hits a hook shot and grabs a defensive rebound, which leads to an Allen Flanigan layup in transition. Williams with 14 points and four rebounds in 11 minutes. Flanigan with nine points, six boards, four assists and three steals.

-- Tre Donaldson with a dunk in transition. He has eight points in his soft opening at Neville Arena. That’s five unanswered for Auburn to go up 75-58 with 6:14 to go, as UAH calls a timeout.

-- Wendell Green Jr. snaps Auburn’s drought with a pair of free throws out of the timeout. He’s got 12, tied with Jaylin Williams for the team lead.

-- Auburn 68, UAH 56 (7:37) | Under-8 timeout: Auburn hasn’t scored in the last 2:10 of gametime. UAH within 12, which is the closest the Chargers have been since opening the second half with that 5-0 spurt to cut Auburn’s lead to nine.

-- Another big dunk from Allen Flanigan, this time in transition off a lob from Wendell Green Jr., who started the fastbreak with a steal. Flanigan now with seven points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists. Third assist for Green, who also has 10 points and four boards.

-- Auburn 64, UAH 51 (11:52) | Under-12 timeout: Auburn is shooting 50 percent overall as a team, just 30 percent from 3-point range and 60 percent from the free-throw line. UAH has hit five of its last seven shots and now has outscored Auburn 19-18 in the second half.

-- Chris Moore with a pair of free throws for his first points of the night. Ten of the 11 Auburn players who have seen the court have scored now. Stretch Akingbola the lone player without a point.

-- Freshman Tre Donaldson now with six points, four rebounds, a pair of assists and a block in nine minutes off the bench. Nice drive just now through traffic for a layup.

-- Auburn 56, UAH 40 (15:27) | Under-16 timeout: K.D. Johnson gets fouled on a drive and will go to the line for two. Johnson has been aggressive, and he has played well, but he has not been able to find his shot. He’s just 1-of-6 from the floor and 0-of-5 from deep, but he has six points and has been active.

-- Williams picks up his fourth foul with less than 17 minutes to play. Stretch Akingbola back in for him.

-- Johni Broome splits a pair of free throws, but Jaylin Williams gets the rebound off the second one and puts it in. He finishes the three-point play at the line, and Auburn has its biggest lead of the game: 54-37 with 17:08 to play. Williams has 10 points, three rebounds and a block in just seven minutes.

-- UAH with five unanswered to open the second half, including a 3-pointer from Jack Kostel, who leads all scorers with 13 Wendell Green Jr. finally answers for Auburn with a midrange pull-up. Auburn’s up 48-37.

HALFTIME: Auburn 46, UAH 32

-- Nine Auburn players scored in the first half, with six scoring at least five points. Wendell Green Jr. leading the way with eight points, two assists and two rebounds. Yohan Traore has seven points and two boards. K.D. Johnson has four points and is a team-best plus-13, even as he’s shooting 1-of-5 overall and 0-of-4 from deep.

-- Back-to-back dunks by Dylan Cardwell to put Auburn in front, 42-30, with 1:12 to play in the half as UAH calls a timeout. Auburn has hit four of its last five shots and now has its largest lead of the game. Cardwell has six points, all on dunks.

-- Auburn 36, UAH 25 (3:02) | Under-4 timeout: Auburn starting to settle in some and create some space between themselves and UAH, hitting five of its last seven shots, but still not quite getting jumpers to fall (just 5-of-15 from deep). Tigers have also gone 11-deep in the rotation, with Stretch Akingbola getting some first-half run.

-- Wendell Green Jr. is starting to get it going. He’s got eight points since the last timeout, including a pair of 3-pointers. Allen Flanigan also had an emphatic baseline dunk after UAH overextended on the perimeter.

-- Auburn 21, UAH 19 (7:39) | Under-8 timeout: Johni Broome with back-to-back buckets to put Auburn up four, but UAH answers with a CJ Williamson basket. Broome is about to head to the free-throw line for a pair of shots after getting fouled before the timeout.

-- Johni Broome with a steal on the perimeter. He dishes it to Zep Jasper in transition, and Jasper finds him for the alley-oop to put Auburn back in front.

-- Auburn 17, UAH 17 (10:34) | Under-12 timeout: Jack Kostel is 2-of-2 from beyond the arc for UAH, which is keeping pace with Auburn midway through the first half here. Auburn is just 3-of-11 from deep and 2-of-6 from the free-throw line (including a Dylan Cardwell airball) early on.

-- Yohan Traore with a nice stroke from the wing for a 3-pointer. Auburn leads, 17-12, with under 13 minutes to go in the first half. The freshman has five points early on here.

-- Auburn 11, UAH 7 (15:36) | Under-16 timeout: Jaylin Williams drills a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and then a stoppage in play after a foul by Allen Flanigan. Auburn is 4-of-8 shooting early on.

-- Tre Donaldson checks in for Green, and now Auburn has gone 10-deep in the rotation less than four minutes into the game.

-- Bruce Pearl’s first substitution of the game is essentially a line change, with Wendell Green Jr. staying in at point. K.D. Johnson, Allen Flanigan, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome all check in. Johnson quickly gets a basket.

-- First points of the preseason: Dylan Cardwell with a put-back dunk after missing a shot near the rim and grabbing his own rebound.

-- Auburn wins the tip, then calls a quick timeout 11 seconds into the game after UAH comes out pressing.

PREGAME

-- Auburn starting lineup: G Wendell Green Jr., G Zep Jasper, F Chris Moore, F Yohan Traore, C Dylan Cardwell

-- UAH starting lineup: G Luke Barnett, G CJ Williamson, G Jack Kostel, G Chaney Johnson, G Max Shulman.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.