It’s a SEC battle on the parquet floor in the Show-Me State as a pair of teams looking for a win do battle. The #11 Auburn Tigers are on the road as they make the trip to face the Missouri Tigers Saturday evening. Auburn comes in off a wild 95-91 overtime win at home over Alabama Wednesday night. Missouri was dropped 82-78 on the road by #25 LSU in their previous game Tuesday night. In the all-time series between the teams, Auburn holds a 6-5 advantage and has taken the last three meetings. That includes an 81-71 win in the second round of the SEC Tournament on March 14, 2019.
Auburn Tigers Look to Keep Rolling
Auburn has had a successful season building off last season’s run to the Final Four. The Tigers enter this game 22-2 overall and 5-2 in the SEC under coach Bruce Pearl, who has done a great job with the program. Auburn opened the season with 15 straight victories, including triumphs over Richmond, Saint Louis, NC State and Mississippi State. The Tigers then dropped back to back games to Alabama (by 19) and Florida (by 22) on the road. Auburn bounced back by earning seven straight victories, including a double-overtime win over Ole Miss along with overtime wins over Arkansas, LSU and Alabama in their last three games. Those victories have kept Auburn in a first-place tie with LSU and Kentucky for the SEC lead.
The Tigers are piling up an average of 80.2 points per game, putting them 17th in the nation in scoring offense this season. Auburn pulls down an average of 42.3 rebounds per game (9th) while dishing out an average of 13.2 assists per contest. The Tigers are slightly below average on the defensive end, ranking 215th in the nation in scoring defense as they allow 70.6 points per game. Samir Doughty leads the team with 16 points plus 4.1 rebounds per contest this season. Isaac Okoro (13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds) and Austin Wiley (10 points, 9.4 rebounds) are each contributing in double figures on the year. J’Von McCormick (11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists), Danjel Purifoy, Anfernee McLemore, Jamal Johnson, Devan Cambridge and Allen Flanigan each average double-digit minutes for coach Bruce Pearl. Auburn shoots 43.6 percent from the field as a team on the year. The Tigers are shooting 31.2 percent from beyond the arc as they sink an average of 8.5 triples a night. Auburn has scuffled majorly at the free throw line as they cash in on 67.4 percent of their chances this season.
KenPom’s metrics show how solid Auburn has been this season. The Tigers are 29th in the nation in offensive efficiency and 56th in defensive efficiency on the year. Auburn is 128th in effective field goal percentage (50.5 percent), 12th in offensive rebound percentage (35.7 percent), 32nd in two-point field goal percentage (53.7 percent) and fifth in free throw attempts (.442) per field goal attempt on the year. The Tigers are stingy defensively as they are 81st in effective field goal percentage defense (47 percent) and 18th in block percentage (13.8 percent) this season. Auburn is an slightly above average team in pace as they are 161st by averaging 68.9 possessions per game.
Missouri Tigers Looking to Pull Upset at Home
Missouri has been spiraling down of late for coach Cuonzo Martin and they look to get back on track here. The Tigers enter this game 11-13 overall and 3-8 in the SEC, so there has been a downward slide since conference play began. Missouri started the year winning four of their first five and then dropped three straight to fall back to the .500 mark. The Tigers reeled off four straight wins to close 2019, including a neutral floor win over Illinois that stands as their top win so far this season. Since then, it’s been downhill as Missouri has dropped nine of their last 12 with seven of those losses coming by double figures.
The Tigers are 297th in the nation in scoring offense with 66.5 points per game on the year. Missouri is 268th in rebounding by collecting 34.8 boards a night while the team dishes out 11.5 assists per contest. The Tigers are 62nd in the nation in scoring defense by allowing only 64.9 points per game. Dru Smith leads Missouri with 11.7 points plus 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game on the season. Jeremiah Tilmon chips in 8.5 points plus 4.2 boards a night while Xavier Pinson contributes 8.6 points and 2.7 assists per game. Mark Smith (10.9 points, 4.3 rebounds), Mitchell Smith, Kobe Brown, Torrence Watson, Javon Pickett and Reed Nikko are all important pieces for Missouri. The Tigers are shooting 40.8 percent from the field as a team this season. Missouri knocks down an average of seven triples a night while shooting only 30.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Tigers are excellent at the charity stripe, cashing in 76.8 percent of their attempts this season. Tilmon missed a month with a stress fracture in his foot, which he suffered against Kentucky on January 4. He returned against Texas A&M on February 4 but hasn’t played since.
The numbers from KenPom show Missouri is effective on both ends of the floor but they haven’t been able to string it together in conference play. Missouri is 162nd in offensive efficiency and 92nd in defensive efficiency this season. The Tigers are 39th in effective field goal percentage defense at 45.9 percent and rank 41st in turnover percentage created at 21.8 percent this season. Missouri is 25th in three-point field goal percentage (29.4 percent) and 91st in two-point field goal percentage (46.9 percent) on the year. The Tigers can be deadly at the charity stripe as they are 26th in the country in free throw percentage. Missouri plays a slower than average pace as they are 253mf in tempo with an average of 67 possessions per game.
Free Underdog of the Day:
Missouri +4.5 over Auburn
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