If you saw Blake Muschalek in the game for Auburn last season, you knew that the Tigers had a huge lead late in the game, as the rarely-used reserve spent the majority of his time cheering on the Tigers from the sidelines.
This year is a totally different story for the Dallas native, who has seen 28 minutes of playing time, including 12 on Wednesday night against Jackson State, as he has been a contributor to Steven Pearl's first squad on the Plains.
From what Pearl said after the 112-66 victory on Wednesday, Muschalek earned the minutes through his effort on the defensive side of the court.
"I challenged those guys this week," the head coach said. "I said, ‘it’s an open audition for guys that want to play defense,' and I thought Blake got out there and guarded."
Muschalek scored a career-high four points while grabbing three rebounds and dishing out one assist. But it was his foul count that had his coach laughing after the game.
Muschalek is scrappy on defense
"I think Blake leads the country in fouls committed in a 40-minute game," Pearl said. "He’s averaging 10 fouls per game. If he played 40 minutes, he fouled 10 times, so he would foul out twice. It’s pretty impressive. That probably beats my number when I was in college, and I used to hack the scrap out of people."
Last year, Muschalek earned his stripes helping the Final Four-bound Tigers by playing on the scout team, playing the upcoming opposition's offense to prepare Bruce Pearl's main guys for the next game. This year, he's earning time on the floor during crucial minutes.
"I thought Blake came in and gave us a nice spark off the bench and really got us going in the second half defensively," Pearl said.