Auburn Basketball is Set to Face Pivotal Stretch on Schedule

The Auburn Tigers took down Ole Miss in Oxford Tuesday night, securing their first SEC road win to improve to 3-3 in SEC play and 12-7 overall on the season. However, head coach Steven Pearl’s squad now finds itself staring down the barrel of a daunting five-game stretch that will be pivotal for the Tigers’ season.

Auburn’s next five games are at No. 16 Florida, vs Texas, at Tennessee, vs No. 17 Alabama, and vs No. 15 Vanderbilt. Three of those five opponents have been ranked in the top 10 at some point this season, and four have cracked the 15. The lone exception is Texas, which beat both Alabama and Vanderbilt in the same week.

SEC Play has not treated Auburn kindly so far, with the first two of the Tigers’ three losses coming in brutal fashion. Auburn opened conference play with an overtime loss at Georgia, even after an unbelievable shot by Kevin Overton at the buzzer to tie the game at the end of regulation. The next game was more buzzer-beater-related pain, as KeShawn Hall’s last-second heave to beat Texas A&M was called off following a lengthy review.

However, the Tigers have also shown some extremely high potential in conference play. Coach Cal’s No. 15 Arkansas squad came to Neville Arena on Jan. 10, and Auburn ran the Razorbacks out of the gym in a 95-73 drubbing. The team clearly has potential, but has struggled to consistently harness it, which makes sense considering the relative inexperience of the group, both as a unit and as collegiate athletes in general.

The main scoring threat for Auburn continues to be UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall, who is averaging an impressive 20.1 points per game, third best of any SEC player. However, some of the younger players have started to come on as well. Freshman Filip Jović had his best game of the season against South Carolina on Saturday, posting 23 points and six rebounds. The Tigers will need the best of Jović moving forward, as the next game up is against possibly the best frontcourt in the nation.

Saturday’s matchup against Florida is sure to pose a difficult challenge for the Tigers, who are just 5-10 against the Gators since Bruce Pearl’s first season with Auburn in 2014-15. Even more discouraging, Auburn hasn’t won a game in Gainesville since the 1995-96 season. However, the Tigers have started to claw back, posting a 3-4 record against Florida in the last four seasons, including a victory over the Gators in the 2024 SEC Tournament Final.

However, this year’s Florida team has rounded into form in recent weeks, winning five SEC games and a row and sitting atop the league standings. All but one of those wins have been by 15 or more points, with the long exception being a four-point victory at then No. 10 Vanderbilt. Florida is averaging 91.2 points per game during the winning streak, so it’s safe to say Auburn will need to be able to score at a high level to have a chance in Gainesville.

The Gators are led by the duo of Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu, who have each been playing at a first-team All-SEC level. Haugh is averaging 16.9 points per game, and Chinyelu is currently averaging a double-double and has posted four consecutive double-doubles during the Gators’ win streak. If either of those players gets into a zone on Saturday, it could quickly become a difficult afternoon.

After the trip to Gainesville, the Tigers will return home to host Texas, which is led by the outstanding guard trio of Dailyn Swain, Tramon Mark, and Jordan Pope. The Longhorns have been hovering around .500 in SEC play so far this season, but when they win, their guards put up explosive performances that can leave opponents reeling. Though getting Texas in Neville Arena should make this game the most likely win for Auburn during the imposing stretch.

Auburn has to hit the road again after the Texas game, travelling north to Knoxville to take on a Tennessee team that has been struggling in recent weeks. The Volunteers suffered an unbelievable collapse against Kentucky in their most recent game, blowing a 17-point lead at home to the Wildcats.

Rick Barnes’ squad currently sits at 2-3 in SEC play, but does have marquee wins over No. 6 Houston and No. 23 Louisville out of conference. This year’s team, though still talented defenders, tends to go the way of star senior Ja’Kobi Gillespie. If Auburn can slow down Gillespie, the Tigers should have an excellent chance to pull the upset in Knoxville.

The final two games of the stretch will be back home for Auburn in Neville Arena, and that homestand will begin with the Iron Bowl of basketball against Alabama. The Crimson Tide are led by SEC Player of the Year hopeful Labaron Philon Jr, and will be adding former standout Charles Bediako to the rotation after he was granted a temporary restraining order to return to college basketball. The decision came even though Bediako signed a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs in 2023.

Auburn’s rivals have had a tough start to SEC play, mustering just a 3-2 start with wins over a Kentucky team that was floundering at the time and current bottom-dwellers Mississippi State and Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide lost at home to Texas and fell to Vanderbilt in Nashville earlier that same week. The last few seasons have delivered some instant classics in the rivalry, and Auburn will be looking to avenge last season’s heartbreaking overtime loss in Neville Arena on a Mark Sears buzzer-beater.

The last game of the stretch is another home game against a Vanderbilt team that has looked extremely shaky lately, despite an improbable 16-0 start to the season. The Commodores have lost three games in a row, though two of them are to arguably the best two teams in the SEC, in Florida and Arkansas. Though two of the losses haven’t been close. Texas stomped Vandy 80-64 in Austin, and Arkansas ran the Commodores out of Fayetteville in a 93-68 blowout.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Mark Byington’s team needs heroic scoring performances from sophomore guard Tyler Tanner to win on the road in conference play, and Auburn’s defense in Neville Arena has been fairly solid apart from a complete collapse against Texas A&M. If the Tigers can hold Vandy under 80 points, they should be in good position to walk out of Neville with a win.

In an SEC that has been so competitive to this point, Auburn cannot afford to go 0-5 in this stretch. Even a 1-4 mark would drop the Tigers to 4-7 in SEC play, far too deep in the hole to potentially get a good seed for the conference tournament. And, with how close to the NCAA Tournament bubble Auburn has been for recent weeks, you don’t want to have to rely on winning multiple games in the conference tournament to make the big dance.

Steven Pearl’s squad should aim for at least two wins in the stretch, especially with Texas, Alabama, and Vanderbilt coming to Neville Arena. If the Tigers can find the version of themselves from the Arkansas game earlier this season and take at least two of the three at home, an upset win at Tennessee or Florida would be both an excellent momentum boost and a strong data point in Auburn's resume come March.

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