AUBURN, Ala. – Now that his team has won its way into the top 10, ascending all the way to No. 8 on the strength of 11 straight victories, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl is sticking to his assessment.
Next Game:
at Alabama
Jan. 24, 2024
6:30 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
"I continue to say we're a little better than people thought we were but we're not as good as people think we are now," Pearl said. "I still feel that way."
In Auburn's most recent victory, an 82-59 triumph over Ole Miss Saturday at Neville Arena, 11 Tigers played at least 10 minutes, an indication of Pearl's commitment to sharing playing time so that everyone on the court always exerts maximum effort.
"Everybody on this team has accepted less in order for us to achieve more," he said.
Now comes Alabama, a team that ranks in the top five nationally in scoring (89.2 points per game) and 3-pointers (11.3 per game).
"Against Alabama, the best defensive players are going to get an edge in the minutes," Pearl said. "They are a dynamic offensive team. It will be all we can do to guard them. I know our numbers say that we're pretty good defensively."
"We know how tough it's going to be to go in there and play our game," graduate forward Jaylin Williams said. "We trust in our principles and our defense. We'll be well-coached, and the coaches will have a really good scout for us. Everyone has a weakness. We've just got to find it."
Auburn swept Alabama two years ago but last season the Crimson Tide twice got the best of the Tigers.
"We played them well twice last year but we weren't able to finish," Pearl said. "They were a great team a year ago as well. We recognize that we got beat twice by them last year. At Auburn, that's your rival. It obviously doesn't sit great."
Revenge, for senior center Dylan Cardwell, is not as big of a motivator as continuing to play well and capitalize on the opportunity afforded by Auburn's fast SEC start.
"We're more focused on what we can control, and what we can control is our effort and our energy," Cardwell said. "We want to make history in our own way, and if that's beating Alabama at Alabama, then so be it."
When Alabama lost at Tennessee Saturday, Auburn became the SEC's only unbeaten team in conference play.
"It's a tough time to get them right now," Pearl said. "We know the things we need to do. We know the things they do well."
The Tigers have earned SEC road wins at Arkansas and Vanderbilt. This week's matchups at Alabama and Mississippi State, Pearl expects, will present a higher degree of difficulty.
"They've been really tough to beat at home," Pearl said, referencing Alabama's 8-1 home record. "Our team is not road tested. We will be in the next two weeks."
Seeking its 12th consecutive victory and looking to improve to 6-0 in SEC play, Auburn (16-2, 5-0) tips off against Alabama (12-6, 4-1) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT ON ESPN at Coleman Coliseum. Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will call the action on the Auburn Sports Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
PLAYER TO WATCH: JAYLIN WILLIAMS
Graduate senior forward Jaylin Williams continues to play some of the basketball of his career. He has five 20-point games during Auburn's current 11-game winning streak during which he is averaging 15.5 points per game on 70 percent shooting from the floor, 53.6 percent from 3-point range and 83.3 percent from the free throw line. His five 20-point games in his last 11 contests are one more than he had in 114 career games prior to that.
With 1,108 career points to date, Williams is 88 points away from moving into the top 25 of Auburn's career scoring list. He is also one game away from moving into the top 10 for career games played (125).
INSIDE THE SERIES: ALABAMA
Wednesday night's game will be the 167th all-time meeting between Auburn and Alabama with the Crimson Tide holding a 101-65 series lead. Alabama leads 52-10 in games played in Tuscaloosa, including a 45-9 mark at Coleman Coliseum. Six of the last eight contests in the series have been decided by eight points or less.
Since the 2017-18 season, Auburn and Alabama have combined to win seven SEC regular-season and tournament championships. The Tigers claimed regular-season titles in 2018 and 2022 and won the SEC Tournament in 2019 en route to a Final Four while Alabama won both the regular-season and tournament titles in 2021 and 2013.
BACK IN THE TOP 10
Auburn climbed five spots to No. 8 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 Poll – the Tigers' highest ranking since finishing the 2021-22 season at No. 8. Auburn is ranked No. 6 along with Kentucky in this week's ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Auburn has now been ranked in the top 10 in five of the last seven seasons under Bruce Pearl. Only five teams (Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State) have made more top-10 appearances over that same seven-year span.
Duke: 7
Gonzaga: 7
Kansas: 7
Kentucky: 6
Michigan State: 6
Auburn: 5
Baylor: 5
Houston: 5
Michigan: 5
North Carolina: 5
Tennessee: 5
Villanova: 5
Virginia: 5