The Auburn Tigers' basketball season may not tip off officially for another few months, but Steven Pearl is already taking his team for a spin, albeit overseas. Earlier today, the Tigers took down KK Mega Superbet, 92-71, in an exhibition matchup that took place in Mykonos, Greece.
Tiger fans may recognize KK Mega Superbet, a Serbian professional team, as the team that former Auburn forward Filip Jovic played for before transferring to the States.
The Tigers, despite playing without Narcisse Ngoy and Mantas Rubtaviius, who are not injured but still sitting out as they await eligibility clearance from the NCAA, as well as George Kimble and Owen Freeman , who are dealing with minor injuries, still found a way to dominate most of the game, as Mega Superbet never led at the end of a quarter.
"A very physical and very competitive game," Pearl said after the game. "I thought for our first time out and not having four of our core guys, our guys competed and played hard. Superbet was very physical in the beginning, and we did a good job of handling it. There are a lot of things we need to clean up, but it's August, so overall I thought we did some good things."
The Tigers' scoring was led by last year's NIT MOP and key Auburn returner Kevin Overton , who boasted 21 points on just 25 minutes of playing time, sitting out the last 15 minutes as the Tigers held onto an impressive lead. He also tacked on three assists and made five of his ten three-point attempts.
Tahaad Pettiford , not to be ignored, also had quite an impressive showing, scoring 12 points while accumulating nine assists and three rebounds on just 27 minutes of play. Pettiford's three-point shooting still appears to be shaking the rust off from the summer, as he made two of his seven attempts from beyond the arc, but he will have ample time to dial that back in before the NCAA season starts.
Of the newcomers, Thomas Dowd , Adam Olsen and true freshman Caleb Williams all had strong days, as Dowd led newcomers in scoring with 13 points and all Tigers in rebounds with 10, while Olsen and Williams each tacked on 12 points in their Auburn debuts. Blake Muschalek, a career Tiger, also added 12 points of his own.
The Tigers will face KK Mega Superbet once again today at 11 a.m. CT, 7 p.m. local time.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/auburn as Auburn Basketball Wins Overseas Exhibition Matchup Against Familiar Team .
