AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn coach Steven Pearl wants to see the same fire from his team Wednesday against Jackson State that No. 22 Auburn delivered Sunday in a one-point loss to top-ranked Houston in Birmingham.
“Houston is typically known as the standard when it comes to playing physically and playing hard, and I thought our guys answered that in a big way,” Pearl said. “Are we going to continue to do that or are we just going to do it because it was Houston?
“Our guys have to find a way to have that same mindset in their preparation, but also in their physical play every game if we want to have the success I think we’re capable of.”
Auburn will likely be without leading scorer and rebounder Keyshawn Hall, who sprained an ankle late in Sunday’s showdown with Houston.
“It’s a big void,” Pearl said. “I thought our guys did a good job the last four minutes (vs. Houston) of really hanging in there. It’s next man up. One positive about our team is we have multiple options that can score.”
KeShawn Murphy returned for the Tigers against Houston after missing two games with an injury. The 6-10 center contributed seven points, five rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes.
“We all have to step up,” Murphy said of Hall’s absence. “It’s more minutes to be played for somebody else and opportunities for some guys who wanted more minutes.”
Jackson State plays in the SWAC, the same conference as Bethune-Cookman, which took the Tigers to overtime Nov. 3 in the season opener.
“If I’m Jackson State – and I told the guys this – they’re licking their chops right now because they’re looking at a team that was picked to finish ahead of them that they probably think that they’re better than, gave us everything we could handle, so why can’t we do that?” Pearl said.
No. 22 Auburn (3-1) hosts Jackson State (0-3) Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network, where Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will provide play-by-play and analysis.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer