March 15, 2018
#4 Auburn vs. #13 College of Charleston
(2017-18 RECORD: 25-7, 13-5 SEC) vs. (2017-18 RECORD: 26-7, 14-4 CAA)
- Tickets
- Watch
- Listen
- Game Notes
Schedule
| Fri, March 16 | 6:27 p.m. |
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
SAN DIEGO -- Less than 24 hours from Auburn's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 15 years, the players are locked in. They're still loose, joking around and having fun with each other, but there was a different intensity at Thursday's practice.
It was clear that Friday's game against 13 seed Charleston couldn't get here any faster.
"We're going to be 10 toes down," junior guard Bryce Brown said Thursday. "We're ready to compete right now, and when that ball tips off, we're going to try and take it to another level, another notch.
Coming off a loss to Alabama in the SEC Tournament last weekend, the Tigers have had a full week to regroup, recover and hit the reset button. This is a team that struggled down the stretch after losing Anfernee McLemore, but they went back to contact practices and are hoping to recapture the magic that carried them to a 23-3 start to the season.
"I think the biggest thing after the (SEC) tournament was trying to find our identity again -- the way we defended, the way we played," sophomore Mustapha Heron said. "Everything (this week) was based on trying to find out who we were again and trying to get back to that, and I think we've been doing a pretty good job of that."
"We clearly aren't as good without Anfernee," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said earlier in the week. "At the same time, I want them to think back to `This is still a team that won the SEC. This is still a team that has eight players that are all capable of playing well.'"
The game is scheduled to tip off Friday at 6:27 p.m. CT from Viejas Arena in San Diego. Rod Bramblett and Joe Ciampi will have the radio call on 93.9 Tiger FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the TuneIn app. It will also be televised on truTV with Carter Blackburn, Debbie Antonelli and John Schriffen on the call.
Player to watch: Jared Harper
Jared Harper has improved in every facet of his game in his second season on The Plains. He has higher per game marks in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Harper is also knocking down free throws at a .832 clip, which is one of the highest percentages in the SEC. The Mableton, Ga. native has amassed 27 games with 10 or more points this season, tied for the team lead.
Inside the series: College of Charleston
This is the fourth meeting between the two sides with Auburn winning all three of the previous games. In 2003, the Tigers defeated College of Charleston at home. The next year, they won in the North Charleston Coliseum. And in 2012, the Tigers won, 55-51, in the second round of the Charleston Classic.
Auburn vs. the CAA
Auburn is 11-3 (.786) all-time against the current members of the Colonial Athletic Association, including 1-0 this season as the Tigers defeated Hofstra in the Charleston Classic. This will be the first time they have played a current member of the CAA in an NCAA Tournament game.
NCAA Tournament tidbits
Auburn's inclusion in this season's NCAA Tournament field ends the third-longest drought among Power 5 schools. TCU, who hadn't made it since 1998, is also in the field while Rutgers currently has the longest drought among Power 5 schools as the Scarlet Knights haven't made it to the Big Dance since 1991.
Bruce Pearl has compiled a 27-17 (.614) record in NCAA Tournament play, including a 16-8 mark at Southern Indiana, a 3-3 tally at Milwaukee and an 8-6 mark at Tennessee. He has been to 10 Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights and two championship games, leading Southern Indiana to the DII National Championship twice, winning the title in 1995.
Scorching the nets
Auburn leads the SEC and is tied for 17th in the nation with 83.4 points per game, which puts the Tigers on pace to be the program's second-highest scoring team all-time.
Auburn scored 90 points five times in SEC play after doing so three times last season. Prior to last season, the Tigers scored 90 points in a regular season SEC game just seven times over the previous 17 seasons combined.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf