AUBURN, Ala. – The opportunity has been earned. Now can it be maximized?
As March arrives and Auburn prepares for its final three regular season games, the Tigers are positioned to reach the NCAA Tournament, at No. 23 in the NCAA's NET ranking.
"To give ourselves the kind of resume that can get into the tournament first and then actually get a good enough seed to advance," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "It's all right there in front of us. Are we good enough? Are we deep enough? Are we going to play well enough?"
Those questions will start being answered Saturday when Auburn (19-9, 8-7) hosts Mississippi State (21-7, 9-6) at 3 p.m. CT on ESPNU and the Auburn Sports Network.
Winners of five straight, the Bulldogs beat Auburn 92-84 in Starkville on Jan. 26.
"We played well there," Pearl said. "We played really hard. We really struggled to guard them and it wasn't because we weren't putting forth the effort. It's hard to lose 92-84 and actually watch it and think you played well. That's how good they are."
Updating injuries, Pearl said Malik Dunbar (abdominal strain) tried to practice on Friday while Austin Wiley (lower leg injury) is improving but remains doubtful for Saturday's game vs. MSU.
The Tigers return to Auburn Arena after winning Wednesday at Georgia on Chuma Okeke's tie-breaking 3-pointer in the final minute.
"We're going to have to play better basketball than we did at Georgia to beat any one of these last three opponents," said Pearl, whose Tigers conclude the regular season with games at Alabama Tuesday and home against Tennessee next Saturday. "That said, we did a lot of good things at Georgia, and we got a great win. Jared Harper, he was tremendous. He willed us to win on both ends of the floor."
Now comes the stretch run, basketball's version of Amen Corner.
"I told the Tipoff Club yesterday the good news is we still haven't played our best basketball game yet," Pearl said. "The bad news is we're running out of time."
The game will be carried on the 93.9 Tiger FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the TuneIn app with Rod Bramblett and Sonny Smith on the call. The game will also be televised on ESPNU with Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli on the call.
Wear orange
Fans are encouraged to wear orange to the game as we look to "orange out" Auburn Arena.
Player to Watch: Chuma Okeke
Chuma Okeke scored 13 points and added six rebounds, two blocks and made the game-winning 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining in Auburn's 78-75 win at Georgia. The Atlanta, Ga. native has scored in double figures in 12 of the last 13 games during which he is averaging 13.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
Inside the series: Mississippi State
Auburn leads 76-70 in its 146-game series against Mississippi State. The Tigers had won two straight and four of the last six against the Bulldogs prior to Mississippi State winning 92-84 on Jan. 26 in Starkville.
The Tigers lead 46-23 in games played in Auburn, including 4-1 at Auburn Arena. Auburn has won eight of the last 11 between the two on The Plains.
Bruce Pearl is 8-5 against Mississippi State in his head coaching career, including a 3-3 mark as Auburn's head coach. Against the Bulldogs, Pearl is 3-2 at home (1-1 at Auburn), 4-2 on the road (1-2 at Auburn) and 1-1 in neutral-site games (1-0 at Auburn).
60 wins over the last three seasons
Auburn has compiled a record of 63-31 over the last three seasons, including 19-9 so far this season. It is the sixth time the Tigers' have won at least 60 games over a three-year span in program history.
After recording the second-most wins in program history with a 26-8 record last season and currently sitting at 19-9, the Tigers are one win away from recording back-to-back 20-win seasons for just the fourth time and only their 11th 20-win season in program history. Auburn had three straight 20-win seasons from 1983-84 to 1985-86 and had consecutive seasons with 20-plus wins in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer.