Auburn used a 26-8 run at the midway point of the second half to pull away from Eastern Kentucky and win 85-64 Thursday night at Auburn, Ala.

The Tigers led just 50-48 with 13:00 remaining before the big run.

Mustapha Heron keyed the run for the Tigers and finished with 24 points, including 15 in the second half. He was 8 of 8 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Auburn is off to a 3-0 start for just the second time in the past 10 seasons. Danjel Purifoy helped the Tigers with 16 points and eight boards. Ronnie Johnson added 13 points.

Eastern Kentucky (1-2) was led by Nick Mayo with 22 points. Dillon Avare added 14 points for the Colonels. Eastern Kentucky was hurt by cold shooting from the outside, finishing just 8 of 33 from 3-point range. The Colonels also shot just 17 free throws (making 12), compared to 25 of 41 for the Tigers.

Auburn went 6 of 18 from 3-point range.

Eastern Kentucky led for most of the first half, but Auburn used a 9-0 run near the end of the first half to turn a four-point deficit into a five-point lead. A follow-up shot by Avare cut the Colonels' halftime deficit to 37-34.

The Tigers, who came into the game with almost half their field-goal attempts (53 of 113) coming from beyond the arc, tried the outside first Thursday. Seven of the Tigers' first eight attempts came from 3-point distance.

Auburn couldn't hit consistently from anywhere early. The Tigers missed 12 of their first 14 shots from the field, including 6 of 7 from the 3-point arc, in falling behind 17-12 at the midpoint of the first half. They finally stopped Eastern Kentucky's 15-2 run with an impressive follow-slam by Horace Spencer.

Eastern Kentucky used strong outside shooting (4 of 7 from 3-point range early) to assume the lead. The Colonels were led by Mayo with 11 first-half points. Purifoy led all scorers with 13 points before the break.