Auburn Brushes Off Colgate

The Tigers destroy the Colgate Raiders 91-62.

The Tigers won the opening tip and that was all she wrote for the Colgate Raiders. It may not be as simple as that, but for all intents and purposes it is. 

The Tigers started the game on a 15-2 scoring run, which was highlighted by one of the meanest crossovers I've ever seen from Samir Doughty. The Tigers were ferocious on both sides of the ball and showed the Raiders there would be no chance for an upset. 

The Tigers lead would only grow as the first half went on. The Tigers would grow their lead to 32 right before half after a thunderous dunk by Isaac Okoro. The Tigers grew their lead thanks to a balanced attack in the first half. Eight different Tigers had made field goals in the first half. 

Colgate wasn't doing themselves any favors either. The Raiders couldn't buy a bucket, hitting only 9 of 32 field goals in the first half. The Tigers were just too physical and too fast for the Raiders.

I wish I could say things got better for the Raiders in the second half, but it didn't. Not even four minutes into the second half the Tigers had already grown their lead to 45 points. Doughty, McCormick, Okoro and Danjel Purifoy were all in double digit scoring before five minutes had even passed in the second half. 

There is a silver lining for the Raiders though. The Raiders would go on some scoring runs in the second half to cut the lead down to 29, but the score would never get any closer.

By the time the game was over, the Tigers looked like the best team in the SEC. Austin Wiley finished with a double-double, McCormick and Doughty combined for 34 points and Okoro continued to show flashes of his star potential. Five Auburn players scored 10 or more points and Auburn's defense held Colgate to only 5-24 from three. 

Coach Bruce Pearl was pleased with Auburn's performance after the game. "We played fast. We shot it. We spread it. We executed. We got after them really hard. Just suffocated them," Pearl said. 

Devan Cambridge loved the way the energy the team played with tonight. "Everybody played team ball. We just came out ready to play," said Devan Cambridge.

While the Tigers didn't play a perfect game, they came pretty close to it. The Tigers should carry this momentum into the next games they play in Brooklyn next week.