No. 1 Auburn vs. Oklahoma Preview, How to Watch, News and Notes

The Oklahoma Sooners are the best shooting team in the SEC, but can they get the upset against the Auburn Tigers - the best team in the nation.
Oklahoma Sooners freshman guard Jeremiah Fears leads his squad to face the No. 1 Auburn Tigers on Tuesday night.
Oklahoma Sooners freshman guard Jeremiah Fears leads his squad to face the No. 1 Auburn Tigers on Tuesday night. / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The schedule maker probably needed a double take after slotting No. 1 Auburn for an SEC home game against Oklahoma. While the Sooners still have that new-team scent, it won't be all roses for the Tigers if they don't take the team from Norman seriously. 

#1 Auburn Tigers (20-1, 8-0 SEC) vs. Oklahoma (16-5, 3-5 SEC)
February 4, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. (CT)
Neville Arena (9,121) | Auburn, Ala.
Television: SEC Network

The Sooners (16-5, 3-5 in conference) look to pull themselves out from a recent slide. Porter Moser's team won just three of their last eight games after a perfect start in non-conference play. 

While they do head to the Plains fresh off a 30-point dismantling of Vanderbilt, Auburn in no shape, way or form resembles the Commodores. 

Withstanding the Flurries

Despite playing less than .500 ball since January 4th, the Sooners stand tall as the best shooting team in the SEC at 49% (Auburn comes in No. 2 at 48.6%). In all phases of the ball going through the net consistently, they are the best. For example, they connect on 37.9% percent of their threes and 79.1% percent of their free throws, leading the SEC in all-three categories. 

In essence, Auburn needs to not choose to engage with the Sooners in a shot-for-shot battle. While the want to prove superior remains an element in college basketball, cooler heads must prevail. Instead, the Tigers need to use their length and athleticism to absolutely smother the Sooners. Make it difficult to even see an ounce of daylight.

Calming Fears

Freshman point guard Jeremiah Fears runs the show. Granted he's the best facilitator on the team (4.2 assists/game), he will call his own number and attack the rim. While displaying a scoring knack (16.1 ppg), he will attempt to clamp opposing lead guards (1.9 steals/game), he gets careless with the ball. Fears's 76 total giveaways lead the conference by 10. 

Turning up the heat won't do any but help Auburn. In the simplest terms, Fears will eventually give you more than enough opportunity to take the ball. Additionally, with his forward attacking style, a rim protector like Johni Broome will look to alter more than a few shots. Broome and his friends lead the nation with 6.8 blocks per game

Constrict Possessions

Despite making more shots percentage wise, more  than any SEC team, Oklahoma cherishes lengthy possessions. Currently, their 70.7 possessions/game rank 175th in Division 1. 

Under those circumstances. short-circuiting 30 of those would cause OU to press and force bad shots, which runs wholly counter to their approach. The Tigers can rely on their size advantage and perimeter defenders to make the game longer.

Overview 

The Oklahoma Sooners provide an interesting matchup for the Auburn Tigers. Despite surrendering the athletic edge by far, Oklahoma's efficient shooting at every level can give the Tigers fits. Basically, this game falls into a battle between the athlete and the shooter.

» A two-game homestand awaits No. 1 Auburn (20-1, 8-0 SEC) as it takes on Oklahoma (16-5, 3-5 SEC) on Tuesday night at Neville Arena, before a Top 10 showdown with No. 6 Florida (18-3, 5-3 SEC) on Saturday.

» The Tigers have reached the midway point of the SEC race holding a half-game lead over second-place Alabama (19-3, 8-1 SEC).

» For a school-record, fourth-straight week, the Tigers remain the No. 1 team in the land receiving all 62 first-place votes for the second week in a row in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.

» Auburn (8-0) and Duke (11-0) are the only two power conference schools still undefeated in conference play.

» The Tigers’ SEC-leading 13-game win streak is tied with Cleveland State for the second-longest in the country and just two games behind Duke for the longest. It is the ninth-longest winning streak in program history.

» Auburn has won their last 11-straight games at Neville Arena which is tied as the 10th-longest, home-court win streak in the country. The Tigers have sold out 64-consecutive home games at Neville Arena, where they are 54-3 overall over the last four seasons.

» The Tigers lead the nation and SEC in win percentage (95.2%) and blocks per game (6.8). They are also third nationally in scoring margin (+18.0).

» Senior All-American Johni Broome is the reigning SEC Player of the Week and Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Player of the Week after leading the Tigers to back-to-back Quad 1 road wins at LSU (26 points and 16 rebounds) and No. 23 Ole Miss (20 points and 12 rebounds) last week.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA

» Oklahoma comes into Tuesday night’s matchup having won three of its last four including a road win at Arkansas, a victory over South Carolina and a 97-67 win over No. 24 Vanderbilt.

» Against Vandy, the Sooners shot 63.2 percent overall as well as 72.7 percent in the second half where they outscored the Commodores, 61-27.

» OU was one of the last three remaining unbeaten teams in college basketball this season with a 13-0 mark until dropping its inaugural SEC-opening game on the road at Alabama on Jan. 4.

» Oklahoma is the only SEC team with two players averaging at least 16 points per game – senior forward Jalon Moore (Birmingham native), who is third in the league averaging 18.2 ppg and freshman guard Jeremiah Fears (11th, 16.1 ppg).

» OU ranks first in the SEC in field-goal percentage (49.0 – 18th nationally), 3-point field-goal percentage (37.9 – 26th nationally) and free throw percentage (79.1 – 8th nationally).

INSIDE THE SERIES

» Auburn leads 2-1 in the all-time series with Oklahoma. The Tigers are 1-0 against the Sooners under head coach Bruce Pearl.

» This is the Sooners’ second trip to Neville Arena, but first as a member of the SEC. The Tigers previously defeated OU, 86-68, in the 2022 Big 12/SEC Challenge behind 23 points and 12 rebounds from Jabari Smith and 21 points, nine rebounds and four blocks from Walker Kessler.

» In the three other all-time meetings in the series, Auburn beat Oklahoma, 74-70, in the Hall of Fame’s Birthday of Basketball Game on Dec. 21, 2016, in Uncasville, Conn. (later vacated by the NCAA).

» Oklahoma’s lone victory in the series came in a 107-87 victory by the No. 1 seeded Sooners over the eighth-seeded Tigers in the second round of the 1988 NCAA Tournament Southeast Regional in Atlanta, Ga.

» Auburn knocked off Oklahoma, 78-70, as part of the 1978 Big Sun Tournament in St. Petersburg, Fla. The two teams have never met in Norman, Okla.

AUBURN-OKLAHOMA SERIES (Last Four Games)

Dec. 15, 1978 N W, 78-70
Mar. 19, 1988 N L, 87-107
Dec. 21, 2016 N W, 74-70 (vacated)
Jan. 29, 2022 H W, 86-68

CONTINUING ITS WINNING WAYS

» Auburn extended its program record to eight wins over a ranked opponent this season with its 92-82 victory at No. 23 Ole Miss on Saturday.

» The Tigers have now won multiple SEC road games over ranked opponents in a season for the second time in program history after winning 70-68 at No. 23 Georgia on Jan. 18.

» During the 1987-88 season, the Tigers won 53-52 at No. 1 Kentucky, 58-57 at No. 10 Florida and 81-68 at No. 17 Vanderbilt.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

» Auburn’s current 11-game winning streak at Neville Arena is tied for the 10th-longest home-court winning streak in the country.

» The Tigers are 108-12 at home since the start of the 2017-18 season. This includes an 8-5 mark during the 2020-21 season when there were capacity limits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so Auburn is 100-7 at home since the start of the 2017-18 when there are no capacity limits.

PLAYER TO WATCH: CHAD BAKER-MAZARA

» Senior guard/forward Chad Baker-Mazara has scored in double figures 16 times this season including seven of the last nine games. He has recorded a steal in 17-of-21 games including each of the last 11 games.

» CBM registered 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 shooting from long range and 2-for-3 shooting from the charity stripe in the road win at Ole Miss on Feb. 1. He also dished out three assists and made one steal in 30 minutes of action for the Tigers.

» He ranks second in the SEC and 22nd nationally with a 90.1 free-throw percentage. He is just shy of a 50/40/90 season, shooting 48.5 percent from the floor, 39.8 percent from long range and 90.1 from the foul line. Baker-Mazara is also 37 points away from his 1,000th career point at Duquesne, San Diego State and Auburn combined.


Published
Terrance Biggs
TERRANCE BIGGS

Senior Editor/ Podcast Host, Full Press Coverage, Bleav, Member: Football Writers Association of America, United States Basketball Writers Association, and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, National Football Foundation Voter: FWAA All-American, Jim Thorpe, Davey O'Brien, Outland, and Biletnikoff Awards