After missing six total games this season in his role in an altercation on a team flight last month, freshman Jahki Howard returned to the court and did not disappoint.

In 21 minutes, Howard finished with 13 points and four rebounds helping lead Auburn to a 98-54 victory over Richmond.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl spoke on the journey Howard has been on dealing with his suspension and time on the bench.

“A couple things about that: Jahki didn’t make the trip to Houston and then missed a couple games. But then he was on our bench. Problem was he was on our bench going to Maui and then coming back and going to Duke. There was just no opportunity to get him rotations in practice. My job as a coach is to put the kids out there in positions to be successful.” Pearl said.

“To Jahki’s credit and his family’s credit, they understood that. We worked really hard this week and coming back from Duke at getting him his repetitions.”

Howard’s shots against Richmond were not your normal in-game field goal attempts. The high-flying wing soared in the air all afternoon for empathic finishes at the rim.

In the second half, Howard topped off his stellar afternoon posterizing a Richmond defender sending the raucous Auburn crowd into a frenzy.

“No. To be honest, it kind of surprises me it was his first game back — and his first college body. It was huge. I’ve seen those multiple times. It’s nothing new, to be honest,” Tahaad Pettiford said postgame.

Myles Kelly added on saying how wild it was seeing it happen in front of him.

“It was crazy. I’ve been seeing it all summer. I’ve seen it on Instagram,” Kelly said. To see it in person, like, in front of my eyes, was crazy.”

With the Holdiday Hoopsgiving matchup against Ohio State next for Auburn, Pearl confirmed that Howard will be back in the regular rotation.

He believes his presence will be beneficial for the teams’ depth ahead of the grueling conference schedule in the January.

“There’s an example of a guy that’s going to help us get better. He’s going to make some mistakes; he made some tonight,” Pearl said. “But he’s going to make a lot happen, too. I was pleased with having him on the floor and some things that he did.”

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X @Jerryhump3 or email him at [email protected]