AUBURN, Ala. – In the second game of the year, Auburn lost to a team from Gonzaga, who hasn’t lost this season and is currently in first place in the country.
Tigers are a different team now. He won four of the last five games, adding up 86.2 points per game in that straight. They are coming from a win against No. 12 Missouri, arguably the best win of the season, and are playing as one of the best teams in the SEC.
But as good as Gonzaga was, Auburn’s next opponent may be better. The Tigers will travel to Waco, Texas on Saturday to face No. 2 Baylor at the SEC / Big 12 Challenge.
“I believe that both teams have improved, but this is a much better team today with Baylor than we played the second game of the season against Gonzaga”, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “What would happen if you both played? I don’t know. You might think it’s the national championship game because I don’t see two teams better than these two.”
Like Gonzaga, Baylor is undefeated in the season (15-0). Bears, which features former Auburn playmaker Davion Mitchell, is defeating the teams by an average of 25 points per game and comes from a 107-59 victory over Kansas State on Wednesday night. They are 21-1 at home for the past two seasons.
“It will be a big challenge for us,” said Pearl. “There is a chance that they are the best team I played against, period. However, we are working hard to prepare ourselves for the chance to beat them.”
The biggest difference between the game earlier this season against Gonzaga and Saturday’s game is not the opponent, but where Auburn is as a team.
Sharife Cooper is now in line-up and averages 22.3 points and 8.7 assists per game in his first six games. Allen Flanigan, who scored 20 against Gonzaga, emerged as one of the SEC’s best players, with 14.2 points per game. JT Thor it gets better and better with every game. In defense, the Tigers lead the nation with 106 blocks this season and more than 20 Thor each, Jaylin Williamsand Babatunde Akingbola.
So, while the challenge is great, this Auburn team will be stuck and ready to compete.
The game is scheduled to start at 3 pm CT at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. Andy Burcham and Sonny Smith will have the radio call at 93.9 Tiger FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and the TuneIn app. The game will also be broadcast on ESPN with Jon Sciambi and Fran Fraschilla on the conference call.
There is no doubt that Sharife Cooper has had an immediate impact on Auburn since entering court. In his first six games in his career, Cooper scored or helped 253 of Auburn’s 521 points (48.6 percent). In his last game against Missouri, Cooper had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. He is one of only four players in the country to post this line of statistics this season.
When Auburn and Baylor clash on Saturday, it will be the seventh encounter in the series with the Bears holding a 4-2 lead. The series is tied 1-1 in games played at Waco, and the Tigers won the most recent duel at Baylor, 83-64, in 1995.
Auburn is 18-16 years old against members of the Big 12 Conference, currently built. Tigers have accumulated wins against nine of the 10 members, including several wins against seven programs. The only Big 12 team that Auburn did not defeat is Kansas State.
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is due to face Baylor for the first time in his career on Saturday afternoon. Pearl is 10-8 against the Big 12 in his career.
Auburn is 9-57 against the top five teams of all time. The Tigers are 1-25 on the road against five major teams with the lone victory arriving at No. 1 Kentucky on January 9, 1988. They are 1-15 against the No. 2 team of all time with the only victory coming against Kentucky on January 13, 1984.
Bruce Pearl it’s 9-14 against the top five opponents in his career, with two of those wins coming as Auburn’s head coach. The Tigers defeated No. 5 Tennessee, 84-80, on March 9, 2019 and No. 3 North Carolina, 97-80, on Sweet 16 during the historic 12-game, post-season winning streak that included a title Tournament and travel to the Final Four.
Pearl has also accumulated victories against No. 2 Florida (2006), No. 5 Florida (2007), No. 1 Memphis (2008), No. 1 Kansas (2010), No. 2 Kentucky (2010), No. 5 Ohio State (2010) and No. 3 Pittsburgh (2010) while leading Tennessee.
While Auburn took care of business at home, the Tigers have also shown their courage on the road in recent years. Auburn has had a 39-25 mark (0.609) away from home since the 2017-18 season, which is the SEC high. Tennessee is next at 34-22 (.607), followed by Kentucky at 34-25 (.576) and Florida at 32-29 (.525).
In their last street game, the Tigers set a record for the away home points program in a conference game with 109 points to beat South Carolina.