Observations: Auburn 90, South Alabama 81

Bruce Pearl's Tigers were able to bury some of their youthful mistakes with a record-breaking avalanche of 3-pointers Friday night.

PG/SG Justin Powell (Shanna Lockwood/Auburn Athletics)

So here’s the thing about inconsistency: Sometimes, it can be a positive.

A few days removed from going 7-34 from beyond the arc in an ice-cold loss at UCF, Auburn broke a school record and tied an SEC record with 22 made 3-pointers in a 90-81 victory over South Alabama on Friday night.

“I think I’ve said from the beginning, we’ve got 10 or 11 good players,” Bruce Pearl said afterwards. “We’ll see if we have any great players — that’s to be determined — but we’ve got good balance. We saw some guys rise tonight. Will they be the same guys that’ll rise in Atlanta against Memphis on Saturday, against Texas Southern and Troy and App State?

“This team needs to get a lot better. We’re going to get more experienced, because we have so little experience.”

Some of the issues of that inexperience popped up again in big ways for Auburn against South Alabama, especially in the second half. But, in a home opener, the Tigers showcased the full pote…