Jared Harper got Auburn going early, and then finished the drill with a thunderous dunk to push the Tigers past Xavier 88-79. Auburn improves to 4-0 with the win and will face off against the winner of the Duke/San Diego State matchup tomorrow night.
It was a sloppy first half that somehow resulted in an Auburn edge at the intermission. The Tigers led 33-28 after the first twenty minutes, despite Jared Harper’s four turnovers and some defensive lapses on second-chance shots for the Musketeers. Bryce Brown escaped a drought early on to hit three long balls and lead all scorers with 13 points at the break, while Xavier got 10 points from Ryan Welage in that span.