2/22/23 Auburn Articles

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Tigers face another 'must win' game, Pearl says

Mark Murphy

4–6 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–Bruce Pearl said on Tuesday that his Auburn basketball team can’t afford to lose its next game, a visit from the Ole Miss Rebels. After going 1-1 last week with a dominating win at home vs. Missouri and a last-second loss at Vanderbilt, the Tigers don’t have as much margin for error regarding their goal of returning to the NCAA Tournament.

“We are facing, again, another must-win situation,” Pearl said. “Last time against Missouri it was because there was a really good prize on the win because Missouri had won four in a row. They had just beaten Tennessee. They were seeded slightly ahead of us in the NCAA Tournament and the win could do us some real good.”

The Tigers played perhaps their best game of the entire season vs. Missouri, taking command early on the way to an 89-56 victory at Neville Arena. That gave Pearl’s team a big boost in its NCAA Net ranking. However, that rating took a hit on Saturday night Auburn lost a second half lead of six points and dropped a 67-65 buzzer-beater at Vanderbilt.

Looking at Auburn’s next game vs. Ole Miss, Pearl said, “A loss can do us almost irreparable damage be cause of just the math.”

Comparing the resumes of Missouri and Ole Miss, the coach noted that there is “a huge difference.”

Comparing the players who will be on the court at Neville Arena to Missouri’s players who played there last week, Pearl contends there is not a major difference. “I guarantee you it would be a close game.” he said.

Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CST with TV coverage on the SEC Network for what will be Auburn’s next-to-last men’s basketball home game this season. The Tigers will also play at Neville Arena on March 4th at 1 p.m. CST in a rematch vs. Tennessee that will be televised on ESPN.

The Rebels will arrive in Auburn with a 10-17 overall record and a 2-12 conference mark, which includes an 82-73 loss to the Tigers on January 10th. Ole Miss has yet to win a conference home game in seven tries. Its league wins came on January 17th at South Carolina (70-58) and February 11th at South Carolina (64-61).

Matthew Murrell, a 6-4, 200 junior guard who scored 24 points vs. Auburn at Oxford, leads the Rebels in scoring at 14.4 points per contest. He hit 7-16 field goals that game, 2-8 threes and was 8-8 at the foul line for his second-highest scoring game of the season, one off his total vs. Chattanooga.

Jaemyn Brakefield, who scored 20 in a 69-61 overtime loss at home to Mississippi State on Saturday, is averaging 10.5 points and 5.6 rebounds. He scored a dozen points in the first matchup vs. the Tigers.

For the season the Rebels are shooting 41.8 percent from the field, 28.8 percent on three-point attempts and 69.2 percent at the foul line. Opponents are making 43.3 percent of their hots and 34.9 percent of their three-pointers.

Ole Miss is plus 1.7 per game in rebound margin and is close to neutral in turnover margin. Lack of offensive firepower has been a major issue for Coach Kermit Davis. His team is 11th among all SEC teams in scoring at 67.1 points per game and 11th in scoring for league games at 65.1.

Auburn is averaging 72.5 points and allowing 64.8 per contest for all games. In league play the Tigers are scoring 71.2 poins per outing while allowing 66.1.

Johni Broome is in his first season with the Tigers. (Photo: Zach Bland / Auburn Athletics)

Johni Broome has taken over the team scoring lead at 14.0 points per game and is the SEC's No. 2 rebounder at 8.9 per contest.

“We played well against Ole Miss at Ole Miss,” Pearl said. “We did a lot of good things the first time so there aren't going to be a tremendous number of adjustments because what we did was pretty effective. We played pretty well.”

Pearl predicts the Rebels will try to feed off the energy of Auburn’s crowd on Wednesday night. “The two games they have won in conference have both been on the road so there's not as much energy in the their building right now. They go on the road and they will be a lot of energy in the building. The guys will be playing with their hair on fire and nothing to lose–a little bit of house money. Our guys know what is at stake, they understand that.”

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Auburn vs. Ole Miss: Stream, injury report, broadcast info for Wednesday’s game at Neville Arena

Taylor Jones

3–4 minutes

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Auburn plays Ole Miss on Wednesday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

Auburn begins a tough two-week stretch to close out the 2023 regular season on Wednesday night, with Ole Miss serving as the first team on the docket at 8 p.m. CT at Neville Arena.

Wednesday’s game is a return game from Jan. 10, when Auburn defeated the Rebels, 82-73 at the Pavillion in Oxford. Auburn trailed by one point at halftime but would outscore Ole Miss 48-38 in the second half to pull away with the victory.

After the Ole Miss game, Auburn will face three teams who rank in the top-35 of the KenPom rankings, so the Tigers need a win in order to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Head coach Bruce Pearl says that Wednesday’s game with Ole Miss has similarities to last Tuesday’s win over Missouri, but also has vital differences.

“We are facing, again, another ‘must-win’ situation. Last time against Missouri, there was a really good prize on the win because Missouri had won four in a row, they had just beaten Tennessee, they were seeded slightly ahead of us in the NCAA Tournament, and a win could do us some real good. The contest against Ole Miss, that’s not the case. A loss could do us almost irreparable damage because of just the math. Ole Miss has lost some games, but they have lost them really close. They lose at home in overtime to Mississippi State. The two games that they have won in conference have both been on the road.”

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

How to watch/listen to Wednesday's game

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

• Date: Wednesday, Feb. 22

• Time: 8 p.m. CT

• TV Channel: SEC Network (Dave Neal, Jon Sundvold)

• Live Stream: fuboTV (watch here)

• Radio: Auburn Sports Network (Andy Burcham, Sonny Smith)

Auburn vs. Ole Miss injury report

AUBURN
[autotag]Chance Westry[/autotag]	Knee	Questionable for Wednesday’s game
OLE MISS
T.J. Caldwell	Hamstring	Questionable for Wednesday’s game
Malique Ewin	Personal Matters	Out indefinitely
Daeshun Ruffin	Personal Matters	Out indefinitely

Projected Starting Five

AUBURN

G	[autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag]
G	[autotag]Zep Jasper[/autotag]
G	[autotag]Allen Flanigan[/autotag]
F	[autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag]
F	[autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag]

OLE MISS

G	Matthew Murrell
G	Amaree Abram
F	Myles Burns
F	Jaemyn Brakefield
F	Robert Allen

Players to Watch

AUBURN

• Johni Broome

• Jaylin Williams

• [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag]

OLE MISS

• Matthew Murrell

• Jaemyn Brakefield

• Myles Burns

Series History

• Auburn leads the overall series over Ole Miss, 80-64

• Auburn leads the overall series in Auburn, 52-17

• Auburn won the last meeting over Ole Miss, 82-73 (Jan. 10, 2023)

• Auburn has won 6 of the last 10 meetings and has won three games in a row

LAST FIVE MEETINGS IN AUBURN

Feb. 23, 2022	Auburn 77 Ole Miss 64
Feb. 6, 2021	Ole Miss 86 Auburn 84 (OT)
Feb. 25, 2020	Auburn 67 Ole Miss 58
Feb. 13, 2019	Ole Miss 60 Auburn 55
Jan. 9, 2018	Auburn 85 Ole Miss 70

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire

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Has Auburn’s recent struggles spoiled their NCAA Tournament chances?

Taylor Jones

~2 minutes

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Auburn, a team that has become accustomed to reaching the NCAA Tournament, has begun to see late-season struggles.

The Tigers dropped its 9th contest of the season last Saturday to Vanderbilt in Nashville on a last-second bucket, 67-65. The heartbreaking loss is its’ fourth loss in its last five games.

How much has Auburn’s recent run of tough luck affected their NCAA Tournament chances? ESPN’s John Gasaway says that the Tigers should not worry, as the quality of opponents that they have lost to will be considered when the committee selects the tournament teams.

Vanderbilt’s Ezra Manjon drove to the basket and laid in the game-winner in the final second to give the Commodores a two-point victory at home over Auburn. To say that Bruce Pearl’s team has now lost four of its last five is correct but in one sense incomplete. The previous losses came on the road to Tennessee and Texas A&M and at home to Alabama. Then again that’s pretty much the same group the Tigers are about to face the rest of the way. Auburn will play rematches against the Volunteers and the Crimson Tide in addition to a road game at Kentucky and a home date against Ole Miss. The No. 8 seed projected for the Tigers hangs in the balance.

Auburn Basketball has four games remaining in the regular season and will need to string together several wins in order to take momentum into the SEC Tournament. Auburn’s next opportunity will come Wednesday night when the Tigers host Ole Miss at Neville Arena for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff.

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Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire