THE RECORDS:
Auburn is 19-2 overall, 7-1 in the league, first place in the standings. (No. 6 RPI)
Ole Miss is 11-10 overall, 4-4 in the league, tied for 6th place in the standings. (No. 83 RPI)
THE TELECAST:
8 p.m. CST on SEC Network
AUBURN'S SITUATION:
Could the Tigers be in better position right now? Not really. After the loss at Alabama, largely due to poor free-throw shooting and an insanely good performance from John Petty, this team has won its last three games by an average margin of 16 points.
All facets of Auburn's scoring-end operation have been working effectively. The team is shooting 52 percent from 2, 42 percent from 3, 87 percent at the line during this latest, three-game stretch. That puts a lot of strain on defenses, which wears them down both physically and mentally. It's basically what Gus Malzahn wrote and said he'd do on the football field — though he's since throttled down his attack significantly.
There is no such trend with Bruce Pearl, who has his offense in attack mode almost all the time. Indeed, Auburn leads the SEC in offensive efficiency and has the league's shortest average possession ... at 16.4 seconds. (Vanderbilt, at 19 seconds, holds the ball longer than any other SEC program.) This is frenzied basketball — just the way Pearl likes it. He has nine trusted players in the rotation and doles out +/- 25 minutes per game to his starters. Bryce Brown and Jared Harper play a few more than 25 most nights mostly because of their preference (shooters like to stay warm) and their numbers don't tail off late in games.
Speaking of that, do you remember former Auburn point guard Tez Robertson? He averaged 37.5 minutes per game in 2008. Isn't that crazy? And he never really seemed tired. Brown leads the way this season at 31.2 minutes per game.
Auburn appears to be injury-free going into this game at Ole Miss. Jared Harper tends to take it easy at practice, particularly during low-impact days like Monday, and always takes extra time to stretch both before and after practice. The way he stretches, I've always assumed he's had issues in the past with calf and hamstring strains. With that said, he's 100 percent on game days.
OLE MISS' SITUATION:
The Rebels have dropped three of four including an 85-72 loss at Texas last weekend. Their troubles largely reside at the defensive end; Ole Miss doesn't protect the rim, doesn't defend the 3 well and concedes more offensive rebounds than most. They're also 0-6 on the road this season.
At home, though, this team tends to play much better. It's won its last seven home games — including victories over South Carolina, Mississippi State, Florida and Alabama.
Auburn hasn't won in Oxford since Feb. 16, 2008. Auburn should have won the game last season after leading 52-29 in the second half, but weird things happen in Oxford.
Anyway, Ole Miss simply doesn't have a guy like Marshall Henderson or Stefan Moody to take command in high-pressure situations. You need at least one guy like that — Auburn has three in Bryce Brown, Mustapha Heron and Jared Harper — and this Ole Miss team doesn't have one. Andy Kennedy's grip on the job may be slipping.
THE REAL STORYLINE:
Ole Miss is very strong at home. Ole Miss can play small ball with Auburn in ways many other teams can't. Ole Miss' roster is loaded with athletes who can run all day long — frenetic pace doesn't affect this team much. This also is the Tigers' first re-engagement of the season. Ole Miss surely feels like it learned from its loss inside Auburn Arena a few weeks back and will devise new ways to defend. That means the onus is on Auburn to throw a wrench into the Rebels' revised plan.
STUFF TO WATCH:
- Anfernee McLemore tends to play well against teams with finesse forwards. Ole Miss has finesse forwards.
- Auburn dedicated a lot of practice time toward a few new, scoring-end sets. Interestingly, those sets are named after teams found atop the current Associated Press Top 25 basketball poll. It's another way for Pearl to keep his team focused on the big picture.
- Pearl believes Auburn needs at least six steals to win this game — be that in transition or in half-court sets.
- Ole Miss is unusual in that it often prefers to use a 2-3 zone. Auburn earlier this season was slow to diagnose things when working against zone defenses, though that wasn't an obstacle when these two teams played on Jan. 9. Keeping the point guard off-set (toward the wings), which yields wider high-low passes, tends to bother zone defenses a bit more. Look for fewer ball screens tonight and more incisive passing from the wings.
- Chuma Okeke has been fantastic lately, posting double-digit points in three of Auburn's past four games, and has a chance to make an even bigger impact tonight. His ability to work inside-out on the scoring end could make him unusually valuable against Ole Miss' zone defense.
Last edited:
