Auburn tips off tonight for first time in new arena

[WLTZNBC38 0]

The seeds have been planted at the new Auburn Arena. It started in March with the hiring of former UTEP Head Coach Tony Barbee. Barbee is a proven winner who was brought here to take Auburn back to the NCAA Tournament.

"It's going to be an interesting team to watch. When i was at UTEP, we had size, and were one of the biggest in the conference and nation." Barbee said.

But here in the Plains, the Tigers aren't one of the biggest teams, so this team will have to find other ways to win, and that starts in practice.

Sophomore guard Earnest Ross said "Conditioning this years been very very hard, but at the end of the day, it'll make us in better shape."

So what are the expectations with a new team, a new coach, in a new arena?

"No ones going to put expectations higher on ourselves then i will. Never do i look at a game and say we have no shot in that one." Barbee said.

Last night Auburn defeated West Alabama 79-66.

Auburn opens up the regular season November 12th against UNC Asheville.