No. 9 Auburn will try to keep up its fantastic early-season play when it hosts Division II foe Mississippi College on Wednesday night.
The Tigers won their first two games going away, beating South Alabama by 43 points and then No. 25 Washington by 22 points.
As for the visitors, they are 1-1 in the regular season but did play well in a 58-56 exhibition loss to Nicholls State.
Let’s run through what to watch for entering this matchup.
Game Details
- Mississippi College at No. 9 Auburn (2-0)
- Location: Auburn Arena – Auburn, AL
- Game Date: Nov. 14
- Game Time: 8 p.m. EST
- Watch: SEC Network+
Players to Watch
Chuma Okeke (Auburn)
The breakout sophomore out of Atlanta posted a double-double in the blowout win of the Huskies by scoring 19 points and adding 10 rebounds, which included six offensive rebounds for the second-straight game.
What had to please Bruce Pearl the most was Okeke’s better decision making, with the 6-8 forward going from five turnovers in the first game to only two turnovers against Washington.
Okeke is simply the perfect fit for how the Tigers want to play, and his ability to spread the floor and make shots from beyond the arc (6 of 8 from 3-point range this season) is going give Auburn a big boost on a nightly basis.
Samir Doughty (Auburn)
We spend a lot of time talking about the excellent contributions from the backcourt duo of Jared Harper and Bryce Brown, so let’s turn out attention to another Auburn guard that is already making his present felt.
Doughty, who sat out last season after transferring from VCU, has played very well thus far in scoring 14 points in the opener and 18 points in the Washington victory. He’s also proven to be yet another outside scoring threat for Pearl and company, with the 6-4 junior making 4 of his 7 attempts from long range.
If Doughty can bring consistency each night whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, it’ll give Auburn’s dangerous backcourt even more depth.
Brandon Boston (Mississippi College)
Through two games, the 6-5 junior is averaging 20.0 points and 9.0 rebounds.
He started 22 games last season and was one the team’s premier performers in posting 14.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 55 percent from the floor.
Key Stats
If you count the exhibition game against Nicholls State, opponents have made 31 total 3-pointers against the Choctaws thus far – an average of around 10 per contest.
Here’s the problem: Auburn is one of the most prolific shooting teams in college basketball, so that could cause some major struggles for the visitors.
Another area that the Tigers have really excelled in early on in the ’18-19 campaign is offensive rebounding. Auburn has 38 offensive boards through the first two games, earning 19 in each against South Alabama and Washington.
Pearl’s team is currently fifth in the country in offensive rebounding percentage, and this will be another opportunity to get a lot of extra looks off the glass.
Game Outlook
- Spread: N/A
- Over/Under: N/A
- KenPom Projection: Auburn, 100 percent chance to win
- ESPN BPI Projection: Auburn, 99.7 percent chance to win
The outcome of this game should be pretty obvious, and this will give the Tigers a chance to work on a few things before they head to the Maui Invitational.
Everyone should be able to get it on the action, with Auburn finding plenty of great looks on offense in cruising to victory.
Season Predictions Record (straight up): 24-4
Game Prediction: Auburn 85, Mississippi College 58
For more SEC basketball coverage, follow me on Twitter @theblakelovell.