AUBURN, Ala. – In two weeks, Auburn will begin the annual grind of SEC play. First, though, the Tigers will face another grind with three home games over the next seven days. First up is Texas Southern on Tuesday night.
"I think it's good," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "One of the things I always say is by the time you get to conference play, you've seen a lot of things. You've seen a lot of different actions, and you've had some success or failure against all them. These things will all just help us prepare for SEC play."
Auburn is coming off its biggest win of the season, beating Memphis in Atlanta on Saturday. Justin Powell matched his career high with 26 points. Allen Flanigan added 16 points, scoring 7 in the final minutes to help close out the victory. And Jaylin Williams dished out a career-high eight assists.
The trio is starting to create some separation, but can they be consistent? Also, who else is going to step up and emerge over this next week as the Tigers get ready for conference play.
The Memphis victory made it two in a row for Auburn. Given the current streak of 30 straight non-conference victories in Auburn Arena, it would seem like the Tigers are set up to get on a roll before they open up the SEC season against Arkansas. Not so fast, says Pearl.
"We're going to have to play well against Texas Southern," Pearl said. "I think we will, but they're talented, they're well-coached, they're organized. They've got really good players that really play pretty well together. So it would be great (to go on a run), but our biggest thing is we just have to keep growing."
The game will tip off Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT from Auburn Arena. Andy Burcham and Sonny Smith will have the radio call on 93.9 Tiger FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the TuneIn app. The game will not be televised, but it can be streamed on SEC Network+ where Brit Bowen and Joe Ciampi will have the call.
All persons inside Auburn Arena will be required to wear a face covering at all times and maintain appropriate social distancing. Visit the Men's Basketball Gameday page at AuburnTigers.com for more information.
Player to Watch: Babatunde Akingbola
Babatunde Akingbola has shown great improvement already in his second season on The Plains. The sophomore has swatted seven shots, including one in each game so far, after totaling five in 13 games last season. The native of Nigeria has also scored in every game this year, racking up 21 points after having just two total points during the 2019-20 campaign.
Inside the Series: Texas Southern
Tuesday night's game between Auburn and Texas Southern will be the fourth in the series history. Auburn has won all three previous meetings, which all took place on The Plains. The Tigers are 23-0 all-time against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Head coach Bruce Pearl is 1-0 against Texas Southern, beating the Tigers in his first season at Auburn. Pearl has faced TSU head coach Johnny Jones six times in his career and is 4-2 in those matchups with all six taking place while Pearl was at Auburn and Jones was at LSU.
SEC Freshman of the Week
Justin Powell was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Week following his second consecutive 26-point performance, which matched a career high, in Auburn's 74-71 win vs. Memphis on Saturday. He went 9 of 13 from the floor and was 4 of 6 from deep in the victory.
The Kentucky native scored the Tigers' first 11 points of the game and then had 15 of Auburn's 37 second-half points to lead a come-from-behind win in Atlanta.
Streaking at Auburn Arena
Auburn is 41-3 (.932) in regular season non-conference home games under head coach Bruce Pearl. That mark is currently second among all SEC programs since 2014, trailing only Arkansas (57-3, .950).
The Tigers have won 30 straight regular season non-conference home games and hold a perfect record in each of the last four seasons. Auburn is the only team in the SEC without a blemish at home against non-league foes since 2016-17. Arkansas (18) and Georgia (16) are next in the SEC regarding consecutive home wins against non-league opponents.
Auburn tips off home stretch with Texas Southern
