Auburn guard Justin Powell is listed as day-to-day as the Tigers prepare for Ole Miss.
Freshman point guard Justin Powell hit his head late in the first half against Texas A&M on Saturday and is “day-to-day” according to Bruce Pearl. Powell attempted to return to the court in the second half but left for the locker room with 15:41 remaining because he did not feel well.
As the Tigers look ahead to Ole Miss Wednesday night and Alabama on Saturday, they’ll be doing so with little to no depth at point guard.
Powell has been extremely productive while fulfilling the role that originally was designated for Sharife Cooper who has yet to be cleared to play by the NCAA. The freshman three star from Kentucky leads the team with 6.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Powell is also second in scoring with 11.7 points per game just behind sophomore wing Allen Flanigan who is averaging 14.5 points per game.
Second behind Powell on the depth chart was sophomore Tyrell “Turbo” Jones who entered the transfer portal last season.
When discussing Auburn’s current point guard situation, Pearl said, “it’s got to be done by committee.” In the second half of the Texas A&M game, Flanigan assumed to role of point guard and helped the Tigers get within two. Unfortunately for the Tigers youth, inexperience, and the absence of a true point guard have really shown on the stat sheet with 37 turnovers in their first two conference games.
On turnovers, Pearl said, “We’ve got to do a better job with the ball, but we’ve also got to do a better job off the ball of getting open, screening, spacing, timing. And we do turn it over, make sure they’re forced turnovers and not where we just sort of hand it to them.”
