Ohio Valley

Harper's 11 late points gets Auburn past Murray State 81-77 (Dec 19, 2017)

Published Dec. 19, 2017 11:56 p.m. ET

MURRAY, Ky. (AP) Jared Harper scored 11 of his 17 points in the final four minutes to help push Auburn past Murray State 81-77 on Tuesday night for its ninth consecutive victory.

Trailing by a point, Harper hit three 3-pointers and added two free throws during a 13-4 run to pull away from the Racers. Auburn (10-1) finished 12 of 27 from behind the arc.

Desean Murray led the Tigers with 18 points and nine rebounds. Harper made 4 of 6 from long range and all five free throws. Mustapha Heron added 16 points and Bryce Brown 15.

Terrell Miller Jr. had 24 points and 15 rebounds for Murray State (7-3). Jonathan Stark had 21 points, while Jalen Dupree and Leroy ''Shaq'' Buchanan each had 10 points. The Racers shot just 38 percent.

BIG PICTURE

Auburn: Two runs were key in the win. The first was a 12-3 run that helped build a 42-36 halftime lead before closing the game with a 15-4 surge.

Murray State: Facing a school nationally ranked in the top 10 in offensive rebounding, the Racers allowed just 13 offensive boards.

UP NEXT

Auburn returns home to take on Connecticut on Saturday. The Tigers defeated the Huskies 70-67 in overtime last season.

Murray State travels north to Detroit-Mercy in its non-conference finale on Friday night.

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