AUBURN, Ala. – In his first four Southeastern Conference games, forward Filip Jovic has missed a grand total of one shot. His 10-for-11 shooting equates to 91 percent.
“He’s been great,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “He does everything we ask, does all the little things that are required to win. We’ve got to find a way to get him more minutes because he’s effective when he’s out there. He plays hard, he rebounds, he gets vertical at the rim, he slides his feet and he makes layups. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do, and we’ve got to reward that.”
For the 6-8 freshman from Bosnia and Herzegovina, it’s all in a day’s work as he adjusts to college basketball.
“I like crashing the glass,” said Jovic, who has grabbed 19 rebounds in three SEC games, excluding vs. Texas A&M when he injured a knee after playing six minutes. “I’ve started loving to play defense. I love to guard everybody on the court. I listen to my coaches, absorb this information and do what they want. I trust my teammates; they put me in great spots.”
Jovic and his Tiger teammates return to Neville Arena Saturday, looking to recapture the dominant performance Auburn displayed in last Saturday’s 22-point win over No. 15 Arkansas.
“What we do doesn’t work unless you play with great effort and energy,” Pearl said. “I’ve got to do a better job as their coach of being able to bring that out of them because you’ve seen what it can look like when we do.”
The Tigers welcome South Carolina to the Plains. Meechie Johnson, the Gamecocks’ leading scorer averaging 14.7 points per game, dropped 29 at Arkansas Wednesday. South Carolina leads the SEC with a 78.7 free-throw shooting percentage while averaging fewer than 10 turnovers per game.
“A prolific scorer,” Pearl said of Johnson, a veteran of 133 college games. “They do a great job of getting to the foul line. When they make 3s, they’re a different basketball team. This is an incredibly capable team.”
Auburn looks to rebound from Wednesday’s 10-point loss at Missouri, a result that led to Pearl’s pep talk at practice about the need to be the most energetic team on the court every night.
“We’ve got to stop having conversations,” Pearl said. “We’ve got to be more about action.”
Seeking its 10th straight win in the series, Auburn (10-7, 1-3) hosts South Carolina (10-7, 1-3) Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network in the Nothing but Neon game. Auburn University students will receive free neon t-shirts.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer