Auburn fought admirably against Arizona on Friday night at Neville Arena, but the talent gap was painfully evident in the final moments of an 80-69 Tigers home loss. With the defeat, AU's nation-best non-conference home streak came to an end.
Steven Pearl's squad found out plenty of positive things moving forward, but ultimately, it learned that the Wildcats were too high a step up for the second year in a row. This time around, things were closer for much more of the game, though the result was the same as last year: a double-digit defeat to Tommy Lloyd's team.
Huntsville native Caleb Holt had a game-high 24 points, nine rebounds, and five steals; Ivan Kharchenkov had 19 points and eight boards; and Motiejus Krivas had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Those three had more points than any one Tiger had all night.
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With all that said, it wasn't all bad by any means. Here were some winners and losers from the effort for the Tigers:
Winner: Thomas Dowd
Thomas Dowd was an efficient 5-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from the three-point line, and often he had the Jungle in the palm of his hand. Dowd played the most minutes and scored the most points. His role is secure in Pearl's rotation.
Loser: Narcisse Ngoy
Foul trouble ultimately kept Narcisse Ngoy from making the kind of impact the team needed to slow down Krivas. Ngoy's six blocks were spectacular, but the French big man had one point on 1-of-4 free-throw shooting and a 0-of-3 effort from the field.
Winner: Owen Freeman
Perhaps the most important development on the hardwood was Owen Freeman's emergence as a minutes-eater for Auburn. Freeman played a critical stretch in the middle when Ngoy and Bukky Oboye were in foul trouble. Don't be surprised if Pearl explores Freeman at the 5 more in the coming weeks before SEC play.
Loser: Kevin Overton
It was not a good shooting night for Kevin Overton, who's now had two duds in a row after a struggle against Appalachian State this past Monday. Overton has now made just three of his last 19 shot attempts.
Winner: George Kimble III
George Kimble III emerged off the Tigers' bench and nailed two of his three shot attempts for 7 points, adding three assists and a turnover to the cause as well. Kimble had a team-high box-plus/minus (+9) in his finest effort yet at Auburn.
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