WATCH: Auburn’s Jabari Smith put on poster by Miami’s Isaiah Wong
Miami guard Isaiah Wong created one of the highlights of the NCAA Tournament when he beat two defenders on the perimeter and dunked on projected top-three NBA Draft pick Jabari Smith. Helping build the Hurricanes first half lead of Auburn, the small guard showed no fear in the lane.
With a 31-27 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the first half, Isaiah Wong came around a screen and was met by two defenders, including Jabari Smith. Feeling the pressure behind him, he crossed over and accelerated to the opposite side of the lane before jumping with Smith pressuring across the rim.
“That was nice, I want more of those,” said head coach Jim Larranaga during his halftime interview.
The big dunk drew a massive reaction from the Hurricanes bench and extended the lead to six. Wong had 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting after the highlight reel play.
Bruce Pearl on early struggles
Auburn finds itself down 33-32 at halftime against Miami in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. With early struggles on both sides of the ball, the Tigers have created a large task for themselves in the time left.
During a timeout, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl spoke quickly about the issues he saw early and addressed how he can fix the issues.
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“We’ve got to do a better job offensively just taking care of the basketball,” said Pearl. “They turned us over early. We came out with a couple of backdoor looks, we weren’t able to execute it. Their ball pressure is bothering us. And then on the other end, it’s all about 1-on-1 closeouts.”
After quickly running through all the issues he saw from Auburn early against, Bruce Pearl took a deep breathe and provided some perspective during the timeout.
“We’re alright, we’re ok,” Pearl said with a laugh and a smile.
Jaylin Williams currently leads all Auburn scorers with four points off the bench after clearing concussion protocol and receiving a dental operation after the First Round win.