Green, Smith lead No. 12 Auburn over Murray State 71-58

Updated Dec. 22, 2021 8:04 p.m. ET

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AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Wendell Green Jr. and Jabari Smith both had double-doubles and No. 12 Auburn beat Murray State 71-58 Wednesday night for its eighth straight win.

Auburn (11-1) held Murray State to 28 points below its season average and out-rebounded the Racers 48-33.

Green had 13 points and a career-best 10 rebounds off the bench for the Tigers. Smith had 12 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

Walker Kessler led the way for Auburn’s defense with a season-high seven blocks, giving him three straight games with at least four rejections. Kessler added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Tevin Brown keyed Murray State (10-2) with 22 points in a return to his home state. The rest of the Racers combined to make 11 of 41 shots from the field.

Auburn’s win was also marked by the season debut of Allen Flanigan, a preseason first-team All-SEC selection who missed the first 11 games due to an Achilles tendon injury. Flanigan had three points and four rebounds in nine minutes.

BIG PICTURE

Murray State: The Racers have been one of the nation’s most efficient offenses this season, but they were held in check by a bigger and deeper power-conference opponent. They should be able to return to their high-scoring ways in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Auburn: Bruce Pearl challenged his team after it was out-rebounded by a large margin in its most recent win at Saint Louis. The Tigers answered that call against a physical Murray State team, which bodes well for their upcoming Southeastern Conference games.

UP NEXT

Murray State hosts Southeast Missouri State in its OVC opener next Thursday.

Auburn opens SEC play with a home game against LSU next Wednesday.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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Allen Flanigan

Tevin Brown

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