Auburn basketball: Tigers topple #12th-ranked Mizzou

Auburn basketball knocked off a ranked Missouri team after the two Tiger teams went toe to toe in the Auburn Arena on Tuesday night with big help from the bench.

Bruce Pearl called the 88-82 victory “the best win of the year so far” as the Auburn Tigers pick up their second SEC win in a row after dominating South Carolina last week.

Standout freshman Sharife Cooper notched a whopping 28 points, the cherry on top of his eight rebounds and seven assists–not to mention making 18-21 free throws. Auburn only scored six three-pointers throughout the game, three of which were made by freshman JT Thor. He was the second leading scorer for Auburn basketball and blocked four shots.

Auburn basketball is now No. 1 in the nation in blocked shots with over 100 blocked shots in the 2020-21 season. Jaylin Williams blocked two in addition to Thor’s four, and sophomore Akingbola blocked five shots in just eight minutes of play.

The home Tigers’ bench players were up to the task, too, with freshman Chris Moore scoring a career-high 11 points. He scored a trio of Auburn’s six 3-balls. Devan Cambridge played 27 minutes and notched five rebounds and eight points. The bench effort was huge in this game…especially considering two of Auburn’s starters didn’t make a field goal.

The game marks the first ranked win for the Auburn Tigers, but they’ll have a chance to take down another ranked opponent in their very next game. Auburn will face off against No. 2 Baylor on the road this weekend at 3pm.

While a top ranked Baylor basketball team is no joke, this Auburn team looks very different from the one that played No. 1 Gonzaga back in November, and we’re staying optimistic.

War Eagle!