Reserve K.D. Johnson scored a team-high 15 points as 21st-ranked Auburn rallied to defeat host South Florida, 58-52, on Friday night in Tampa.
The Tigers (3-0), who entered the game as 14-point favorites, trailed by 15 midway through the first half.
Zep Jasper added 13 points for the Tigers, who survived despite shooting just 34.4 percent from the floor, including 5-for-26 on three-pointers (19.2 percent).
Tigers freshman Jabari Smith, regarded as a likely top-five pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds. But he made just 3-of-12 shots from the floor, including 2-of-7 on 3-pointers.
South Florida (2-2) went scoreless in the final 2:27. The Bulls missed all five of their field-goal attempts as well as both of their free throws in that span.
The Bulls were led by Caleb Murphy, who had a game-high 19 points, scoring mostly on electric drives to the hoop and pull-up jumpers. Javon Greene scored 15 points, making 4-of-8 3-pointers.
USF has not prevailed over a team from a Power Five conference since beating Alabama, 66-64, on Dec. 7, 2013.
Still, the Bulls got off to a fast start, leading 9-0 with field goals made by four different players. USF kept coming and increased its lead to 25-10 on a Murphy jumper with 5:26 left in the first half.
Auburn then went on a 10-0 run before USF recovered slightly to hold a 33-26 lead at halftime. Auburn scored the final four points of the half, including a jumper at the buzzer by Jaylin Williams.
Murphy led all first-half scorers with 11 points, and the Bulls held the Tigers to 31 percent shooting for the opening 20 minutes, including 2-for-12 on 3-pointers.
In the second half, USF led 40-31 after a Murphy layup with 13:33 left.
From there, Auburn went on a 15-0 run that was finally snapped by USF’s Greene, who made a 3-pointer to cut the Tigers’ lead to 46-43 with 7:18 remaining.
The Tigers then stretched their new-found lead to eight points.
A 3-pointer by Green with 2:28 left cut USF’s deficit to 55-52, but both teams went scoreless for the next two minutes.
Jasper finally made two free throws with 32 seconds left, stretching Auburn’s lead to 57-52. Johnson added one more free throw for the game’s final point.
–Field Level Media
