Good Cambridge Article

[aubiefifty 18,231]

Playing in his hometown, Devan Cambridge continues best stretch of career

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

5-6 minutes

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Devan Cambridge buries a 3-pointer in the second half of Auburn's win at Vanderbilt on Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn.

Devan Cambridge’s first college game in his hometown was one he won’t soon forget — or at least the second half of it was.

While Jamal Johnson and Sharife Cooper paved the way for Auburn as it ended its three-game losing streak on Tuesday night against Vanderbilt, the Tigers’ sophomore from Nashville, Tenn., played a pivotal role in the second half of his team’s 73-67 win. Cambridge scored all 11 of his points in the second half against the Commodores, helping the Tigers overcome a rough first half and pick up their second straight win in Memorial Gymnasium — a venue that has traditionally been a nightmare for Auburn over the year.

“I’m proud of him,” Johnson said. “He’s been going a great job for us and helping us win games.”

Cambridge overcame his own sluggish first half offensively against Vanderbilt while putting together his fourth straight game in double figures. After missing all four of his shot attempts, including all three from 3-point range, in the first half, Cambridge — like the rest of Auburn’s lineup — found his groove after halftime.

The sophomore was 4-of-5 shooting in the second half, connecting on all three of his shots from beyond the arc, and was a team-best plus-8 after the break. His first basket came on an alley-oop from Sharife Cooper — the first of back-to-back such plays from the freshman point guard to tie the game at 31-31 with 17:22 to play — and provided a spark for an Auburn offense that shot just 22 percent in the first half. Cambridge followed with a pair of 3-pointers a few minutes later to first cut Vanderbilt’s lead to two and then give Auburn its first lead of the second half, 40-38, with 13:08 to play.

The Tigers never relinquished that lead, pushing it to as many 11 in the final minutes. Cambridge’s last basket — another 3-pointer — all but sealed the game, putting Auburn up nine with 1:59 to play.

“These last, I think, 10 games or so, he’s been the most consistent player on our team,” Johnson said. “… Devan does a great job hitting shots, playing defense, energizing with the blocks. Like I said in the offseason, he was a hard worker in the offseason, and he’s proven that this year.”

It was just the latest in a string of solid performances for Cambridge, who has enjoyed the best stretch of his Auburn career over the last month. During that 10-game stretch, Cambridge is averaging 10.5 points per game and shooting 38-of-79 (48.1 percent) from the floor, including a 14-of-43 (32.5 percent) clip from beyond the arc, and he has scored in double figures in eight of those games.

Prior to that stretch, which began Jan. 9 against Alabama — not coincidentally, when Cooper was cleared by the NCAA, giving Auburn a gifted natural point guard to run the offense through — Cambridge was shooting just 31.8 percent on the season and just 26.2 percent from 3-point range. He has boosted those numbers to 39.5 percent overall and 28.8 percent from deep—and while the 3-point percentage is still below where he was last season, his recent stretch has made him a more reliable contributor on offense for a young and developing team.

“I think Devan came back from Christmas with a great mindset,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “He was disappointed in the (nonconference season). He kind of put that on himself not playing with a gifted point guard like Sharife who is able to find him at the rim and is able to find him on the perimeter. Clearly (that) has helped his offensive game.”

And because Cambridge has felt more comfortable on the offensive end, his defense — in terms of physicality, activity and rebounding — has seen improvement too, according to Pearl.

“I think Devan could be a high-level 3-andD guy who can be a big-time rebounder and make plays at the rim in transition,” Pearl said. “He’s got the potential to be a great player. And he’s made progress. I think you’re beginning to see it now. Earlier in the year, we talked about Allen Flanigan and how much progress he made from his freshman year to his sophomore year. Allen is getting a lot of attention in the scouts because we ask a lot of him, offensively and defensively. But you’ve begun to see now Devan Cambridge start to make a lot of progress between his freshman year and his sophomore year, particularly in SEC play. He’s been really productive, and I hope it continues.”