Auburn heads into its second-and-final exhibition game of the season with some good news.

Starting point guard Varez Ward, who tweaked his ankle early in the second half of the Tigers’ first exhibition game against Paine (Ga.) College on Tuesday, is “fine” according to head coach Tony Barbee and could be back in the lineup Saturday night against Victory (Tenn.) University.

“He’s walking on it, so I think he will be fine,” Barbee said. “I’m looking forward to getting some more of the rust knocked off. It’s been almost two years since he has played, so he is going to be a fun player to watch.”

Ward had to sit out last season after transferring from Texas.

Saturday’s game against Victory in Auburn Arena is also a chance for the Tigers to fine-tune their game before the season starts to count for real.

“It gives us a chance to see how much improvement we can make between last Tuesday and Saturday,” Barbee said. “As a coach, you are just trying to continue to stair-step your way into the season, really fine-tune some things that you are doing well and continue to work hard on the things that you are not doing well.”

Auburn started off the season on a good note with a 26-point win over Paine, with five Tigers scoring in double figures.

Sophomore guard Chris Denson led the way with a game-high 21 points, while Rob Chubb added 14 and eight rebounds and Kenny Gabriel, Allen Payne and Josh Wallace chipped in with 12 points apiece.

The main thing Barbee wants to get out of Saturday night’s game?

“No. 1, a combination of what team plays the best and what parts of the game as well as how we are executing what we have practice,” Barbee said. “We must continue to add our playbook as each day goes on, but you are just trying to figure out maybe if a play worked very, very well last season, that even if it doesn’t fit this group, what does actually fit?

“It’s kind of a maturation process throughout the year, and this is kind of just the first stage of it.”

Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and admission is free.