3/18/23 Basketball Articles

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Auburn vs. Houston: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Saturday’s second round game

Taylor Jones

2–3 minutes

Auburn basketball plays Houston on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

There have been a handful of upsets throughout the first round of the NCAA Tournament. No. 9 Auburn hopes to record its second upset in as many rounds when they face the No. 1 seed of the Midwest Region on Saturday evening at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

Auburn will have its work cut out for them as they face Houston, the team with the best odds to win the national championship according to BetMGM. One of the reasons why Houston is successful is their ability to rebound at a high rate. The Cougars currently rank No. 7 in the country in rebounding by pulling down 38.9 rebounds per game. In Auburn’s first round win over Iowa, Auburn was out-rebounded by the Hawkeyes, 44-38.

Head coach Bruce Pearl says that it will be important for his team to limit Houston on the boards.

“Knowing that we’re going to have to put bodies on bodies, and some of our guys may not be able to get a rebound, but they have to make sure that their matchup doesn’t get a rebound. So it will be our biggest challenge tomorrow will be keeping Houston off the glass.”

RELATED: Getting to know the Houston Cougars

Below, you will find all of the information you need for Saturday’s second-round game in Birmingham, including a how-to-watch guide, an injury report, and a projected starting five.

How to watch/listen to Saturday's game

Here’s when you should tune in to see the game:

Date: Saturday, March 18

Time: 6:10 p.m. CT

TV Channel: TBS (Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson)

Radio: Auburn Sports Network (Andy Burcham, Joe Ciampi)

Auburn vs. Houston injury report

AUBURN

Chance Westry

Knee

Out for the season

HOUSTON

Marcus Sasser

Groin

Questionable for Saturday’s game

Projected Starting Five

AUBURN

G

Wendell Green Jr.

G

Zep Jasper

G

Allen Flanigan

F

Jaylin Williams

F

Johni Broome

HOUSTON

G

Marcus Sasser

G

Jamal Shead

G

Tramon Mark

F

J’Wan Roberts

F

Jarace Walker

Players to watch

AUBURN

Johni Broome

Allen Flanigan

Wendell Green Jr.

HOUSTON

Marcus Sasser

J’Wan Roberts

Jarace Walker

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire

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247sports.com

 

Can 'The Rook' be Auburn's X-factor once again vs. Houston?

Nathan King

5–6 minutes

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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — It was a heated contest of one-on-one, Tre Donaldson said.

Earlier this season, he and junior guard K.D. Johnson found themselves trading blows in a quick matchup inside Neville Arena. Johnson, of course, believed he’d easily grab the upper hand. But Donaldson, a freshman, continued to match Johnson’s shot-making.

“So he goes, ‘I guess I have a rook now,’” Donaldson said Friday. “That’s why I’m ‘The Rook.’”

Auburn’s youngest scholarship player in the main rotation this season by a decent margin, Donaldson leans on the experience around him in the backcourt. Johnson, Wendell Green Jr. and Zep Jasper have taken him under their wing to ensure he squeezes everything he can out of his freshman campaign with a team now standing as one of the last 32 in college basketball.

And Donaldson certainly takes advantage of the guidance, especially with the trials that come with being a player in his position on a Bruce Pearl team.

Pearl has long shared that he coaches his point guards harder than anyone on the team, and the same can also be said for freshmen. Going back to the likes of J'Von McCormick at point, or names like Isaac Okoro and Jabari Smith as youngsters, Pearl holds a high standard for both those demographics on his rosters.

Donaldson gets the best of both worlds.

“I'm probably harder on Tre almost than anybody else on our team,” Pearl said Friday. “Now, you wouldn't imagine. Why would you be hard on a freshman point guard? It's because he is really talented, and he can handle it.”

That kind of tough love isn’t always easy for a freshman, so Donaldson takes to his mentors in the backcourt.

“BP is one of those coaches where his point guards are his leaders,” Jasper said. “He teaches them everything, 1-through-5. You just have to be prepared playing in that system.”

A former 3-star recruit from Tallahassee, Florida, Donaldson said he probably leans on Jasper, Auburn's starting point guard last season, more than anyone else for his wisdom and steady approach.

“Zep being one of the oldest guys on our team — he’s been around the block a few times,” Donaldson said. “He’s been an all-conference guard. Just picking his mind. I ask a lot of questions because I want to be the best at what I do. I’m a natural-born leader, so I want to get as much as possible out of him.”

Playing 10.6 minutes per game, Donaldson solidified himself as Auburn’s backup point guard behind Green approximately a month into the season. Though rarely an explosive offensive punch off the bench — though he made his name known in this year’s March Madness with an electric performance against Iowa — Donaldson is efficient with his time on the floor. He shoots 36.7 percent from beyond the arc, good for the second-best clip on the team, and only turns it over 0.6 times per game.

Green said, despite the difference in experience level, Donaldson is still able to teach him a thing or two during and after games, which he thinks displays Donaldson’s maturity and development.

“He came in as a freshman knowing who’s in front of him,” Green said. “He just competed with me the whole summer and the whole fall. He’s got my respect. I’m teaching him things out there, and he’s still telling me things out there he’s seeing.”

Of course, Auburn hopes Donaldson can be an X-factor once again when the Tigers take on 1-seed Houston on Saturday night (6:10 p.m. CST, TBS). The point guard caught fire in Auburn’s 83-75 win over Iowa on Thursday, draining all three of attempts from beyond the arc and scoring all 11 of his points in the second half. It was his first outing scoring in double figures since he had 12 points in the USC loss all the way back in mid December.

Johnson matched him with 11 points, and Auburn got 26 points from its bench in the NCAA Tournament opener. Against a team that was rated NET No. 1 in the country for the majority of the season, Auburn could certainly use another even scoring performance from all levels of its lineup.

And if Donaldson is to again contribute highly, he'll probably credit his upperclassman teammates in the backcourt.

“At the end of the day, they just get me prepared for moments like tomorrow and yesterday," Donaldson said.

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Auburn is an underdog against Houston in the second round of the NCAA Tournament

JD McCarthy

~2 minutes

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The Auburn Tigers are set to face the Houston Cougars Saturday for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 9 Tigers are hoping to shock the No. 1 Cougars and will have some advantages. The game will be played in Legacy Arena in Birmingham and Auburn should have plenty of fans cheering them on.

The Cougars are coming off an 11-point victory over Northern Kentucky in the first round but both Jamal Shead and Marcus Sasser are battling injuries. Shead is playing through a hyper-extended knee while Sasser aggravated a groin injury and played just 14 minutes last game.

Houston may be battling some injuries but they are still one of the favorites to win the tournament and are favored over Auburn. BetMGM has them favored by 5.5 points over the Tigers.

Here is everything you need to know about the game before you place a bet.

RELATED: Getting to know the Houston Cougars

Betting Lines

The lines, courtesy of BetMGM

• Point spread: Auburn +5.5

• Over-under: 132.5

• Auburn Money Line: +200

• Houston Money Line: -250

Click here to place your bets at BetMGM.

Injury Report

AUBURN
Chance Westry	Knee	Out for the season
HOUSTON
Marcus Sasser	Groin	Questionable for Saturday’s game

Advice and Prediction

The Cougars may be hobbled but are still a dangerous team and it will take a great game from Auburn to pull off the upset.

Auburn’s offense is coming off a great performance but a matchup against Houston’s elite defense will cool them off and points will be at a premium for both teams. I expect Houston’s defense to lead them to victory but Auburn will cover the 5.5-point spread.

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire

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al.com

 

The unlikely inspiration for Auburn’s senior guard: Sonic the Hedgehog

Published: Mar. 18, 2023, 7:00 a.m.

5–7 minutes

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Zep Jasper held up his phone and showed off a photo of a polaroid he has saved in his favorites folder.

It’s of the Auburn guard wearing a hat, his hair jutting out from underneath it, and a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses obscuring his eyes as he holds up a pair of stuffed toys. One of them is immediately recognizable, with its long, spiky blue hair that — color aside — is reminiscent of Jasper’s own distinct hairstyle.

Read more Auburn basketball: Five-star freshman Yohan Traore addresses his future plans while remaining focused on NCAA Tournament run

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Johni Broome’s first-round performance unlike any other by an SEC player since Anthony Davis in 2012

It’s Sonic the Hedgehog, the famously blue videogame (and now movie) hero with a need for speed and a proclivity for collecting gold rings. Jasper has a fondness of Sonic that dates back to his childhood, when he became entranced by the Sonic the Hedgehog games on his Nintendo system. (Jasper is Auburn’s oldest player, but even he isn’t old enough to be familiar with the Sega system iteration of those games).

“Sonic is one of those guys that he can’t be stopped,” Jasper said. “He’s fast, he’s quick, and I think no other hero can stop Sonic.”

And yes, Sonic is the inspiration for Jasper’s hairdo.

“That’s my favorite character,” Jasper said. “Sonic, he inspired me to have my hair like this. That’s why I like the crazy, wild look with my hair.”

Jasper’s hair is unmistakable, and he says “without a doubt” that he has the best hair on the team. It was somewhat of a surprising proclamation, given Jasper’s penchant for boosting up others — from his own teammates (the enthusiasm with which he brags on them is infections) to Auburn’s biggest rival (he said earlier this week that he’s rooting for Alabama to make a run in the tournament). But Jasper’s hair is a point of pride and source of unwavering confidence. Without it, he says, he “wouldn’t be able to do nothing in life.”

In other words: Jasper has no plans of cropping his locks anytime soon. But the hairstyle isn’t the only thing linking Jasper to his favorite character. There’s a tattoo, as well, on the top of his right hand.

RELATED: “No injury could put me down”: Chris Moore confident despite reaggravation of shoulder injury

The tattoo is of Sonic’s head, and Jasper got it on his dominant hand while he was still at the College of Charleston back during the 2019-20 season. Funny story: He got the tattoo done the day before Charleston’s game against Delaware — a game that saw Jasper’s only basket come in the form of a 4-point play with just under 3 minutes to play.

“My hand was pretty swollen, and I still went out there and balled out,” Jasper said. “My hand was like all puffed up, but hey, it ain’t affecting me. I went out there and played as hard as I can.”

Jasper drained a corner 3-pointer and drew a foul in front of Charleston’s bench to put his team in front for good in an eventual 80-71 win. Teammates rushed over to him and mobbed him in celebration before helping him up. Jasper’s 3-pointer and subsequent free throw were part of a 22-4 run that saw Charleston erase a 10-point second-half deficit on its home floor.

“I had a lot of guys tapping my hand, but I was like, ‘Hey, Sonic did work,’” Jasper said. “I was happy that I made the shot, and I believe that it was Sonic the Hedgehog.”

While Jasper is better known as the “Honey Badger” for his tenacious on-ball defense, he feels sympatico with Sonic the Hedgehog—and believes the plucky animated protagonist would make for an incredible basketball player, one that would be held in the same regard as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. While Jasper doesn’t hold himself in that same tier, he does feel like he and Sonic would share some traits on the court.

“When I’m playing defense, it’s like, ‘Hey man, you ain’t going around me; I’m going to stop you no matter what,’” Jasper said. “I always got that mentality from him.”

Jasper is carrying that mentality into Auburn’s second-round matchup with top-seeded Houston on Saturday night in Birmingham. Jasper and the Tigers’ backcourt will face a tall order against the Cougars, who are led by AAC Player of the Year Marcus Sasser. Though Sasser is dealing with a groin issue he aggravated in Houston’s opening-round win against Northern Kentucky, the 6-foot-1 guard is averaging 16.7 points per game and shooting 38.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Jasper thinks Sonic the Hedgehog would be the type of defender who could contain Sasser and hold him scoreless. He also thinks Sonic could stop Auburn big man Johni Broome, who scored 19 points and pulled down a dozen rebounds with five blocks in the Tigers’ opening-round win.

“Sonic the Hedgehog, he all over the court,” Jasper said. “You can’t stop that dude. He’s just one of those types of guys.”

Jasper will try to be that type of guy against Houston, and while he wasn’t about to assert that he’d keep Sasser out of the scorebook in the teams’ 6:10 p.m. matchup at Legacy Arena, his goal is seemingly more attainable: Win and advance to the Sweet 16.

“The goal is to beat Houston,” Jasper said. “That’s going to be the goal, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.