1/31/23 Auburn Articles

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Despite back-to-back losses, Tigers stay in Top 25 polls

Mark Murphy

4–5 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–As Auburn prepares to play its first rematch of the basketball season the Tigers will head into Wednesday’s game vs. the Georgia Bulldogs still in the AP Top 25, but just barely. Auburn fell 10 spots in this week’s ranking to No. 25, two spots behind the team's ranking in the new USA Today Coaches Top 25.

Last week the Tigers set a school record with 31 consecutive polling periods in the AP Top 25. Despite losing at home to Texas A&M last Wednesday and at West Virginia in the SEC vs. Big Challenge on Saturday, the Tigers received 117 poll points, one spot ahead of fellow SEC member Missouri, which has 74 poll points.

Purdue (21-1) remains atop the poll followed Tennessee from the SEC at No. 2 and Houston at No. 3. The only other team in poll is Alabama at No. 4. Arizona is fifth.

In the coaches poll the Tigers dropped seven spots to No. 23 in a tie with UConn Huskies with 81 poll points, 14 points ahead of No. 25 Illinois.

. Purdue is No. 1 in that ranking followed by Tennessee, Houston, Virginia and then Alabama, which joins the Tigers and Vols as the only ranked SEC team.

Tipoff for the Georgia game is set for 6 p.m. CST at Neville Arena with television coverage on the SEC Network. The Tigers will bring a 16-5 record into the contest, which is the final one of the first half of the league schedule. Auburn is 6-2 in conference games. Georgia, which is 14-7 overall, is 4-4 in the league following an 81-78 overtime victory at home vs. South Carolina on Saturday.

Auburn dropped a 76-64 decision to Georgia at Athens on January 4th. In that game the Tigers shot just 34.8 percent while the Bulldogs made 45.3 percent of their field goals. Johni Broome led the Tigers with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Terry Roberts scored 26 for the Bulldogs.

Broome is averaging 13.4 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds. Wendell Green leads the Tigers in scoring at 13.6 points per game and assists (4.3). Jaylin Williams is the other Tiger averaging double figures for scoring at 11.1 points per outing.

After taking on Georgia the Tigers face a challenging three-game stretch at Tennessee, at Texas A&M and at home vs. Alabama. Those teams have a combined 22-2 record in SEC games.

Johni Broome grabs a rebound vs. Georgia. (Photo: Dale Zanine, USA TODAY Sports)

Auburn Basketball Notes: Green leads the SEC in free throw percentage at 83.7 and is fourth in assists. Broome is third in rebounding and his 51.8 field goal percentage ranks fourth among SEC players...In SEC games Green is averaging 15.75 points per contest, which ranks fifth in the league. Broome is seventh at 14.75 points...The Tigers are seventh in the league in scoring at 72.38 points per outing and third in scoring defense, allowing  64.19 points. In SEC games the Tigers are averaging 69.88 points, which ranks seventh. They are allowing 65.38 points in league games, which ranks fifth...The Tigers are fifth in scoring margin for league games at plus 4.5 per contest...Three-point shooting continues to be a problem for Coach Bruce Pearl’s Tigers, who are making just 29.5 percent of those attempts. That ranks 13th in the league ahead of Mississippi State’s 28.2 percent.

SEC Standings

Alabama 8-0, 18-3

Tennessee 7-1, 18-3

Texas A&M 7-1, 15-6

Auburn 6-2, 16-5

Kentucky 5-3, 14-7

Florida 5-3, 12-9

Missouri 4-4, 16-5

Georgia 4-4, 14-7

Arkansas 3-5, 14-7

Vanderbilt 3-5, 10-11

Mississippi State 1-7, 13-8

LSU 1-7, 12-9

Ole Miss 1-7, 9-12

South Carolina 1-7, 8-13

SEC Schedule (All Times CST)

Tuesday, Jan. 31

* Mississippi State at South Carolina 5:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

* Texas A&M at Arkansas 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

* Vanderbilt at Alabama 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

* Kentucky at Ole Miss 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Wednesday, Feb. 1

* Georgia at Auburn 6 p.m. (SEC Network)

* Tennessee at Florida 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

* LSU at Missouri 8 p.m. (SEC Network)

AP Top 25 Poll

19COMMENTS

Coaches Top 25 Poll

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Auburn basketball is struggling against opponent's star players

Lance Dawe

2–3 minutes

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As expected, Auburn basketball has taken a bit of a step back from where they were a season ago.

Losing first-round NBA Draft selections Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler has hurt this year's team, but the frontcourt doesn't seem to be a huge issue.

Auburn's guard play has not been as consistent as Bruce Pearl may have wanted for the past two seasons. In their five losses this season, their defense has struggled.

Take a look at today's stat of the day.

Stat of the day:

In Auburn's five losses, the opponent's leading scorer in the contest averaged 28.4 points per game. All five players were guards.

What it means:

It's hard to criticize because of how effective they were at times last year, but Auburn's guards are struggling on defense, mainly because of their size disadvantage. Plain and simple. Here's what each individual top scorer did in all five losses:

Kendrick Davis (Memphis) - 27 points, 9-19 shooting (7-7 FT)

Boogie Ellis (USC) - 28 points (CAREER HIGH AT THE TIME), 9-15 shooting

Terry Roberts (Georgia) - 26 points (TIES CAREER HIGH), 8-16 shooting

Tyrece Radford (Texas A&M) - 30 points, 8-17 shooting (11-12 FT)

Erik Stevenson (West Virginia) - 31 points (CAREER HIGH), 10-17 shooting (4-5 FT)

Auburn Today broke down the numbers a little further by comparing the scorers in the five losses to the leading scorers in Auburn's wins - by month.

November - 14 PPG

December - 15 PPG

January - 23 PPG

The Tigers are very clearly struggling against SEC guards this season, and because of their size limitations throughout the position, it doesn't seem like there's a solution on the horizon.

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#PMARSHONAU: Disappointment and hope for Auburn basketball

Phillip Marshall

3–4 minutes

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Auburn suffered a heartbreaking loss Saturday at West Virginia in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, but did they re-energize their season at the same time?

The Tigers looked overmatched in the first half on both ends of the court, taking a 45-29 deficit to the locker room. And then they played perhaps their best half of the season, Only when Wendell Green’s 3-point attempt come up short at the buzzer did the Mountaineers escape with an 80-77 victory.

The Tigers missed some free throws that could have pushed them over the top, but West Virginia missed some that could have put the game away. In the end, the hole Auburn dug for itself was too deep, but just barely.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl took no pleasure in coming up short. He clearly was not happy with what he called “ticky-tack” foul call and said he hoped SEC teams playing at home had “the same whistles.”

There was much to like for Auburn in the second half.

* West Virginia managed just four two-point baskets.

* Guard KD Johnson played at a level not seen since last season. He made two baskets, one a big 3-pointer, in three attempts. He got a steal on an inbounds pass that gave Auburn a chance to catch up in the final minute. He had six assists and two steals.

* Johni Broome, in foul trouble early, scored all 15 of his points in the second half. He also finished with seven rebounds and five assists.

* Jaylin Williams was terrific, scoring 18 points and getting five rebounds.

* After having nine turnovers in the first half, Auburn had just four in the second half.

There was also much to not like, especially in the first half.

* West Virginia guard Eric Stevenson went off for 31 points, hitting 7-of-10 3-pointers. When Auburn pulled within a point twice late in the game, he answered both times with 3-pointers. Some of his 3-pointers were from 30-plus feet away.

* Point guard Wendell Green had a rough game. He scored nine points but was 2-of-10 from the field.

* West Virginia was 15-of-27 from the field in the first half.

* Auburn fouled too much, sending West Virginia to the line 25 times.

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Don’t be deceived  by West Virginia’s 2-6  Big 12 record. The Mountaineers hammered No. 11 TCU 74-65 at home 10 days ago. In their last four games, they have lost only to Kansas. WVU Coliseum is a very tough place to play. They have lost close game after close game.

8COMMENTS

Auburn turns its attention now to Georgia's Wednesday visit to Neville Arena. The Bulldogs have three SEC wins, and one of those was over Auburn in Athens. Georgia might not be going anywhere, but it will be a very important game for the Tigers as they head into a stretch Pearl has called the most challenging of his career.

If the Tigers repeat their second-half performance or close to it, they should win handily. If they repeat their first-half performance, there are no guarantees against Georgia or anybody else.

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