Observations: Auburn 70, North Alabama 44

After Wes Flanigan went 1-0, Steven Pearl has done the same, as the Tigers overcame a rough offensive game for another comfortable win.

SF Devan Cambridge and Acting HC Steven Pearl (Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics)

In four of the last five seasons, Auburn basketball has won at least nine of its first 10 games. One of those seasons featured an SEC regular-season championship. Another ended with the Tigers holding the 2 seed in an SEC Tournament that was canceled. And another one was the program’s run to the Final Four.

During the 9-1 start to that Final Four season, Auburn had a low-scoring win against UNC Asheville. Auburn didn’t look impressive on offense in the first half, used a huge surge to start the second half to pull away and finished off a 67-41 win.

Three years later, Auburn defeated North Alabama by a similar score — just tack on three more points on both sides for a 70-44 result.

Tuesday night marked the lowest point total Auburn has allowed in a game since that victory over UNC Asheville. It wasn’t pretty, especially before halftime, but Auburn still managed to get a comfortable win over the lowest-rated oppo…