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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Auburn 85, Eastern Kentucky 64
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 17, 2016
Where: Auburn Arena, Auburn, Alabama
Officials: # Karl Hess, # Byron Jarrett, # Brian Shey
Attendance: 6987

Auburn used a 26-8 run at the midway point of the second half to pull away from Eastern Kentucky and win 85-64 Thursday night at Auburn, Ala.

The Tigers led just 50-48 with 13:00 remaining before the big run.

Mustapha Heron keyed the run for the Tigers and finished with 24 points, including 15 in the second half. He was 8 of 8 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Auburn is off to a 3-0 start for just the second time in the past 10 seasons. Danjel Purifoy helped the Tigers with 16 points and eight boards. Ronnie Johnson added 13 points.

Eastern Kentucky (1-2) was led by Nick Mayo with 22 points. Dillon Avare added 14 points for the Colonels. Eastern Kentucky was hurt by cold shooting from the outside, finishing just 8 of 33 from 3-point range. The Colonels also shot just 17 free throws (making 12), compared to 25 of 41 for the Tigers.

Auburn went 6 of 18 from 3-point range.

Eastern Kentucky led for most of the first half, but Auburn used a 9-0 run near the end of the first half to turn a four-point deficit into a five-point lead. A follow-up shot by Avare cut the Colonels' halftime deficit to 37-34.

The Tigers, who came into the game with almost half their field-goal attempts (53 of 113) coming from beyond the arc, tried the outside first Thursday. Seven of the Tigers' first eight attempts came from 3-point distance.

Auburn couldn't hit consistently from anywhere early. The Tigers missed 12 of their first 14 shots from the field, including 6 of 7 from the 3-point arc, in falling behind 17-12 at the midpoint of the first half. They finally stopped Eastern Kentucky's 15-2 run with an impressive follow-slam by Horace Spencer.

Eastern Kentucky used strong outside shooting (4 of 7 from 3-point range early) to assume the lead. The Colonels were led by Mayo with 11 first-half points. Purifoy led all scorers with 13 points before the break.
Top Game Performances
 
Eastern Kentucky   Auburn
Nick Mayo 20 Scoring Mustapha Heron 24
Asante Gist 4 Assists Ronnie Johnson 4
Marlon Adams 4 Rebounds Mustapha Heron 10
Nick Mayo 8 Free Throws Made Mustapha Heron 7
Jaylen Babb-Harrison 2 Steals Danjel Purifoy 3
DeAndre Dishman 1 Blocks LaRon Smith 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Eastern Kentucky 64 32.8 8-33 12-16 9 28 1 6 14
Auburn 85 45.8 6-18 25-42 14 50 4 9 15