Five Tigers scored in double figures as Auburn held off Davidson for a 76-66 basketball victory in the Veterans Classic on Friday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Maryland.

Anfernee McLemore, who took over the game with an energy burst in the closing minutes, came off the bench to score 12 points, add five rebounds and block three shots.

Freshman Isaac Okoro scored 16 points, Danjel Purifoy chipped in with 14 points plus six rebounds while Samir Doughty scored 11 and J'Von McCormick contributed 10 points, five rebounds and five assists with no turnovers.

Austin Wiley added five points and a game-leading 10 rebounds for the Tigers.

Auburn was up 66-61 before McLemore’s blocked shot led to a fastbreak basket for McCormick with 2:46 to play. McLemore then took a charge and followed that with a slam dunk on a pass from McCormick to put the Tigers in great shape with a 10-point lead and 2:13 to play.

“My mom’s a veteran and it means a lot to me personally,” McLemore said about the opportunity to play and contribute in the Veterans Classic game held at the Naval Academy to honor veterans.

Talking about his flurry of outstanding plays at crunch time, the senior said, “It was a pretty close game and I knew I had to come in and make some plays and bring some energy and try to change the flow of momentum in the game because Davidson was chipping away at the lead.

“Once I made that block it pumped our crowd up and it put me in a better head space and the plays kept rolling off after that,” he added.

Coach Bruce Pearl had praise for McLemore's efforts. "At the end of the game Anfernee McLemore absolutely ratchets the whole thing up on both ends, offensively and defensively, and makes winning plays," he said.

“He saved his best for the last,” Pearl pointed out. “He’s such a tough matchup because he can do things inside and out. He was fearless. Our guys did a good job of finding him. We had a couple key baskets late where he was able to score in traffic. He gives us a great dimension, a great rim protector. He had monster athletic blocks.”

Anfernee McLemore blocks a shot attempt by Davidson's Bates Jones.

The Tigers improved to 2-0 while Davidson, which won 24 games last season, dropped to 0-1.

Defense was a key to the victory. Auburn held Davidson’s top two scorers Jon Gudmundsson, the 2019 Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year, and Kellan Grady to seven and six points, respectively. Both averaged right at 17 points per contest last season. Gudmundsson made 2-7 field goals and Grady was 2-10 from the field.

Pearl said he liked what saw from his team’s 10-point victory at a neutral site against what he said is a Top 30 opponent. “That will be great for our RPI and things like that.

“It was a good balanced effort, obviously in the scoring column with five guys in double figures and Austin having 10 rebounds--just a lot of different contributions," the coach said.

“We talked about the fact our backcourt could be one of the better defensive backcourts in the league," Pearl said. "I don’t think those two guards, No. 3 and No. 31, have been held to single digits, both of them in a single game, in their career.

“It was just a phenomenal defensive effort,” Pearl added. “Mike Burgomaster, Ira Bowman and Clay Tucker, that team right there, had the scout and did an outstanding job,” the head coach said about his staff.

Auburn scored the first seven points and built the lead to double figures when a basket by Okoro put the Tigers up 12-2. However, Davidson cut the lead to 37-35 by halftime.

The Tigers built the margin to 13 points at the 9:43 mark of the first half on two free throws Wiley to make the score 23-10. However, the Wildcats put a major dent into the lead at the foul line, making 16-17 free throws in the opening half.

At halftime Okoro led the Tigers in scoring with 11 points. “I knew once my first shot went down that it was going to be a pretty good game for me,” Okoro said. “That three-pointer really gave me confidence for the whole game. Everybody hitting their shots to start the game really gave us a boost in the start.”

Auburn made 12-28 field goals (42.9 percent), 4-14 threes and 9-14 free throws in the period. The Tigers led in rebounding 21-17 at the break. Davidson hit 7-26 field goals (26.9 percent) and 5-14 threes in the first half. Each team turned the ball over nine times in the first half.

Auburn built the lead back to 13 points in the second half on a left-handed inside move by Purifoy, who was fouled and made the free throw to put the Tigers up 49-36 at the 14:59 mark. The Wildcats cut the lead to 63-59, but could not catch Auburn, which led the entire game and was able to pull away in the final three minutes.

Worth Noting, Part 1: Auburn made 24 field goals to just 18 for the Wildcats.

Worth Noting, Part 2: McLemore praised the turnout of Auburn fans. “We had a great crowd today," he said. "It was more than what I was expecting.”

Pearl agreed, calling it "a great turnout" by Auburn fans.

Stat of the Game: Auburn hit 12-22 field goals (55 percent) in the second half.

J'Von McCormick drives to the basket vs. Davidson.

Auburn shot 48 percent from the field, hitting 24-50 field goals while Davidson made 18-55 for 32.7 percent. The Tigers hit 6-24 threes while Davidson made 10-28.

The Wildcats were very good at the foul line, making 20-23 shots while Auburn hit 22-35.

Auburn held a 38-33 rebounding advantage and turned the ball over 15 times, one less than the Wildcats.

Box Score

Up Next: The Tigers will travel to Mobile for a 7 p.m. CST game on Tuesday at the Mitchell Center on the campus of South Alabama.