SPORTS

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Despite Carter Collins and Luke Frampton scoring 18 points each, and Mike Jones adding 14 in his collegiate debut, Davidson dropped its season opener to No. 24/23 Auburn, 76-66, Friday evening in the Veterans Classic hosted by the United States Naval Academy at Alumni Hall.

Frampton and Jones combined to hit 9-of-16 from long range, while Collins came off the bench to go 5-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-8 at the line.

The Tigers, a Final Four participant from a year ago, placed five players in double figures, led by Isaac Okoro’s 16.

Auburn (2-0) jumped out to a 23-10 advantage, before the ‘Cats responded with an 18-6 spurt highlighted by three of Jones’ four first-half 3-pointers. After sitting out last season with an injury, the red-shirt freshman drilled another triple just before the buzzer to cut the deficit to 37-35 at the break.

Four of Davidson’s five starters had to sit a majority of the opening 20 minutes with two fouls each.

The Tigers, who shot 54.5 percent after intermission, started the second half on a 12-1 run to grab control and push the margin back to 13, 49-36, with just under 15 minutes to play.

Davidson, which drilled 10 treys, and connected on 20-of-23 from the charity stripe, slowly chipped away and made it a 63-59 game on a Collins’ trey with 6:26 remaining, but was unable to inch closer as Auburn pushed its lead back to 10 in the closing minutes.

The two teams combined to commit 48 fouls and shoot 58 free throws.

Auburn finished with a 38-33 advantage on the glass, while the Wildcats had eight steals, including four from Collins.