Piecemeal protagonists

AUBURN | A season of odd personnel changes -- the suspensions and the injuries and the academic quandary and Kareem Canty's departure -- yielded another unexpected twist for Auburn Wednesday night.

This one left a smile on Bruce Pearl's face for a change.

Three peripheral contributors, thrust into bigger roles because of Tyler Harris' absence due to a concussion a, posted career-high point totals against Georgia. Tying those performances together was TJ Dunans, the slasher-turned-point, who deftly managed things on the scoring end with shrewd decision-making, quick passes and just enough scoring to keep the Bulldogs guessing.

Auburn won, 84-81.

"The ball doesn’t get stuck in his hands. He’s a ball-mover," Pearl said of Dunans, who finished with seven assists and one turnover Wednesday. "It was nothing that we put in, but he’s a little but more of a point guard than what we’ve had for a while. He set the tone with his ball movement."

The Tigers (11-16, 5-10) seemed like a team in trouble heading into the game. The visitors' size overwhelmed Auburn when these teams met earlier this month (UGA won by 10) and Harris, the team's best inside threat, was ruled out Tuesday by team physicians.

Adding real-time complexity to the task Wednesday: Cinmeon Bowers, moved back to forward due to Dunans' rise at point guard, clearly was out of rhythm and wasn't much of a factor.

So how did Auburn pull off the upset?

Lang was the big story. Known almost exclusively as a spot-up shooter prior to this week, the sophomore acquiesced to Pearl's pleas for more diversified play on the scoring end. Lang ignored his instinct to wait along the perimeter for a pass and instead attacked Georgia in the one place it wasn't expecting him to attack.

The rim.

Lang finished with a season-high 21 points. Most notable, he attempted a career-high 10 free throws and connected on eight of them. Lang's willingness to adjust his game to meet the team's needs forced Georgia (14-12, 7-8) to alter its defensive strategy and provided better perimeter looks for teammates Jordon Granger and Bryce Brown.

Brown didn't accomplish much with his opportunities, going 2-of-11 from the floor, but Granger's situation unfolded much differently. The senior, playing primarily in Harris' spot at power forward, scored a career-high 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting.

He was 6-of-6 at the line. He also grabbed 11 rebounds to consummate the first double-double of his 84-game career.

"It wasn't that bad," Granger said about switching from small forward to power forward earlier this week. "I get more shots at the four. I love it. I can't complain."

Auburn led by 16 at the half and maintained a double-digit advantage until the 4:30 mark of the second half. Georgia guards Kenny Gaines and J.J. Frazier hit a series of shots during those closing minutes to create drama.

The Tigers' lead was cut to a single point with six seconds remaining, but Brown knocked down a pair of free throws to force UGA into desperation mode. The visitors missed their final two free throws, the second of which was rebounded by Bowers.

Interestingly, Auburn, one of the nation's worst free-throw shooting teams, landed 10 of its final 12 free throws.