3 Things to Watch in Auburn's Clash With Oregon in Las Vegas

The Auburn Tigers are set to begin their stint at the Players Era Festival with a matchup against the Oregon Ducks on Monday night to get the week started.

Auburn sits at 4-1 on the year, most recently coming off a loss to No. 1 Houston last weekend and a dominant win over Jackson State on Wednesday. On the other hand, Oregon travels to Las Vegas undefeated, boasting a 4-0 record, with its most notable victory coming last Monday over Oregon State.

Let’s take a look at three things to watch in the Tigers’ clash with the Ducks tonight in the Sin City.

Availability of Keyshawn Hall

Auburn senior small forward/power forward Keyshawn Hall exited the Houston game with about five minutes remaining after landing awkwardly on his right foot when driving to the basket and drawing a foul. Head coach Steven Pearl said last week that Hall suffered a “lateral ankle and foot sprain,” and revealed there was no exact timeline for his return.

The UCF transfer didn’t play in Auburn’s 112-66 thrashing of Jackson State, but he appears to be a game-time decision ahead of the Tigers’ meeting with Oregon.

Obviously, Auburn will benefit tremendously if Hall is able to suit up and play at, or close to, 100%. He currently ranks as the SEC’s second-leading scorer, only behind Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard, averaging 23.3 points per game, and also ranks second in the league in rebounds per game with 11.0.

Signs are pointing towards him playing, but if Hall is unable to go, look for Sebastian Williams-Adams, Filip Jovic, and even Elyjah Freeman (at the three) to step up in his absence.

The Auburn Guard Rotation

The Tigers’ backcourt is an interesting situation, as there are a wide variety of combinations that are possible for Auburn at the guard spots. Tahaad Pettiford will start at point guard, of course, but there are a plethora of Tigers outside of Pettiford who continue to compete for playing time.

Pearl said a couple of weeks ago that Auburn was hosting an “open audition” at the guard position, as Kevin Overton, Abdul Bashir, Kaden Magwood, Blake Muschalek, and now Simon Walker could all see the floor at different points in the game.

Overton, as expected, has been a steady constant for Auburn at the two spot, starting four of the Tigers’ first five games. Magwood is often given minutes at backup point guard behind Pettiford, but there have also been occasions in which Pettiford and Magwood are on the floor at the same time.

At shooting guard, the emergence of Walker against Jackson State made the situation even more difficult to sort through, as he went 5-for-5 from downtown in his Auburn debut last week. He could likely take some of Bashir’s minutes, who has simply struggled thus far on both ends of the court.

Bashir was brought in to be Auburn’s sharp shooter and consistently hit threes, but he has failed to do that, currently shooting just 15.4% from behind the arc this year. He has also been a liability on defense at times – and we all know that if you don’t play defense on a Pearl-coached team, you don’t play.

Muschalek, although he’s a walk-on, was tagged as Auburn’s best on-ball defender by Pearl earlier in the season. He has seen game action in every game except Auburn’s opener against Bethune-Cookman, so he could certainly be someone who gains valuable minutes moving forward.

Can Auburn’s New Squad Win Big Games?

This is a question that will be answered this week in Las Vegas, as the Tigers will face three quality opponents over the next few days.

Auburn boasts 10 new players this season, with Pettiford as the only returnee from last year’s Final Four team, so the jury is still out on their ability to win important games.

The Tigers brought the nation’s top-ranked team down to the final possession in Birmingham last Sunday, but as Auburn fans surely are aware of by now, being “close” doesn’t matter. Auburn will be exposed this week by a solid Oregon team on Monday and an extremely talented Michigan squad on Tuesday, meaning the Tigers will have multiple opportunities to make a statement heading into a brutal stretch of nonconference tests to close the year.

The Tigers and Ducks will tip off at 7:00 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on TruTV.