Auburn's Prowell making impact after long wait

AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn coach Jeff Lebo had been waiting for this kind of performance since Quan Prowell joined the team.<br> <br> In a tight game, Prowell was calling for the ball, clapping his hands to get teammates&#39; attention and wanting to take the big shots and free throws.<br> <br> The Furman transfer came through with 19 of his 21 points in the second half of Wednesday night&#39;s 83-80 upset of No. 22 Tennessee that was potentially as big a breakthrough for him as for the Tigers.<br> <br> ``The biggest thing with him is he&#39;s kind of a quiet kid, and we&#39;ve got to try to get that out of him,&#39;&#39; Lebo said Thursday. ``If he wants to be a good player, he has to have a little emotion, a little toughness in his game, the attitude that, &#39;I&#39;ve got to take over a little bit at key times in the game to help my team.&#39;<br> <br> ``That&#39;s really not his personality.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> But Prowell showed some of that dimension against the Volunteers. He hit four consecutive free throws late, even asking to take two key technical foul shots with 22 seconds left.<br> <br> ``It was a big boost for me,&#39;&#39; Prowell said. ``It should help me the rest of the season.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> It was a long time coming. The 6-foot-8, 215-pounder transferred from Furman after earning Southern Conference freshman of the year honors and had to sit out last season under NCAA transfer rules.<br> <br> The 22-year-old Prowell opened this season as a spectator as well, for a different reason. He was suspended for the first 11 games for an unspecified violation of team rules, further delaying his Auburn career and extending a long layoff from game action.<br> <br> ``I&#39;m surprised I made it through, but I did, by the grace of God,&#39;&#39; Prowell said. ``My teammates stood by me the whole time. There were times I felt like quitting but they didn&#39;t let me.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> He said he was ``very tentative&#39;&#39; his first few games back, but has since boosted his averages to 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds. Prowell also gives the undersized Tigers (12-7, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) a rare potential matchup advantage as a taller outside shooter.<br> <br> He is hitting a team-high 39 percent from 3-point range, making 14-of-36 attempts in eight games. Prowell also is leading the league&#39;s worst free throw shooting team at 78 percent from the line.<br> <br> ``He&#39;s 6-8 or 6-9, but he&#39;s a good shooter,&#39;&#39; Auburn forward Korvotney Barber said. ``He can drive the ball, he can shoot the ball. It&#39;s hard for people to defend him.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Lebo said teams have mostly tried to defend Prowell with bigger players, at times giving him an edge in quickness. Tennessee assigned smaller defenders to him.<br> <br> That didn&#39;t work very well. Prowell shot over them and also penetrated and drew fouls. He made 3-of-5 3-pointers and all six free throw attempts.<br> <br> ``I started taking my time with my shots and I really started going inside and outside instead of just trying to shoot so much,&#39;&#39; Prowell said. ``I think that really helped me.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> But, he adds, ``It was a quiet 21 points. I didn&#39;t realize I had that many points.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Prowell, who has started the last two games, hopes to emerge as a ``go-to guy&#39;&#39; for a team that mostly relies on freshmen and sophomores.<br> <br> ``With me being the oldest guy on the team, I should be a leader on the court and off the court,&#39;&#39; he said. ``Being a go-to guy comes with the territory.&#39;&#39;