AUBURN, Ala. – A spring break trip to The Bahamas prevented Auburn freshman forward Sebastian Williams-Adams from attending last year’s regular season finale at Neville Arena, so Saturday’s showdown will be his first experience with the in-state rivalry.
“It’s a big honor to play in this Iron Bowl of basketball,” Williams-Adams said. “There’s going to be high emotions on Saturday. Trying to play level-headed basketball is where I’ve had my mindset. I know this rivalry is important. I want to win for the Auburn fans. I don’t want to get out of character and start forcing things. That’s been my main approach.”
Auburn is counting on Williams-Adams’ defense, lauded by coaches and analysts, to help the Tigers put the brakes on an Alabama offense that ranks No. 4 in the nation at 91.6 points per game and has eclipsed the century mark six times.
“They’ve proven themselves offensively every single year,” Williams-Adams said. “This team is very excited to step up to the plate and get to play them. We know it will be a good game.”
During his 11 seasons on Bruce Pearl’s staff, head coach Steven Pearl helped elevate the series, including the Tigers’ win last season in Tuscaloosa in the SEC’s first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup.
“This rivalry has turned into something significant,” Pearl said. “It’s going to be a great environment.”
Auburn University students are doing their part to see to that, camping outside Neville Arena for multiple nights to earn the opportunity to cheer in the Jungle Saturday afternoon.
“From 2018 until last year, there’s been nine SEC championships between the two programs,” Pearl said. “That in itself has elevated this rivalry to the best one in our conference in that time. The first No. 1 vs. No. 2 last year at their place. No other rivalry can say that in our league.”
Alabama sophomore guard Labaron Philon Jr. leads the SEC in scoring at 21.4 points per game while former Auburn guard Aden Holloway contributes 17.2 points per game for a team that leads the nation by launching 36.1 3-point attempts per game.
“We can’t get into a 3-point contest, and we can’t get into a transition contest with Alabama,” Pearl said. “That’s what they do really well. What we do really well is attack the rim. That’s what we’ve been good at all year.”
To start the second half of SEC play, Auburn (14-8, 5-4) hosts Alabama (15-7, 5-4) Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and the Auburn Sports Network, where Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will describe the action for listeners. Auburn University students will receive free orange T-shirts to participate in the All Auburn All Orange promotion.
“Our guys all know that this is a big game,” Pearl said, “but we can’t approach it like it’s any different from the games we played last week.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer