A Deeper Look Into the Formula Behind Auburn's 4-Game Winning Streak

The Auburn Tigers are currently riding a four-game winning streak and are playing some of the best basketball of late.

Auburn is fresh off a home victory over Texas on Wednesday night at Neville Arena, defeating the Longhorns 88-82 to claim its fourth consecutive win. The Tigers started the SEC slate at 1-3, with a win against Arkansas and losses to Georgia, Texas A&M, and Missouri.

However, since then, Stevel Pearl and company have seemed to right the ship, as Auburn is red hot and is 4-0 in its last four outings. The Tigers have beaten Ole Miss and South Carolina at home, and arguably their most impressive win of the season came against Florida in Gainesville.

Pearl tagged Auburn’s historic victory at Florida, which marked the first time the Tigers emerged victorious from the O’Connell Center in nearly 30 years, as possibly the biggest road win in program history.

Not only do the Tigers seem to be meshing and learning how to play together as a cohesive unit, but Auburn’s improvements and recent success are also reflected in the stat sheet.

Let’s take a look at three specific categories in which Auburn has taken drastic strides over the last couple of weeks that have led to the Tigers’ solid string of wins.

Defensive Intensity = Up

This is undoubtedly the most important aspect of Auburn’s ascension. The main staple of a Pearl-coached team – both Bruce and Steven – is unmatched effort and intensity on the defensive end. And that’s exactly what Auburn has exhibited.

In the Tigers' opening four conference games, they allowed an average of 85.3 points per game, with Georgia posting 104 and Texas A&M notching 90. On the flip side, in the last four, opponents are averaging 70.5 points per game. The Gamecocks, Rebels, and Gators all scored 67 points or less, and Texas managed to record 82 behind a strong 30-point showing from Dailyn Swain.

Limiting Turnovers

On the offensive end of the court, Auburn is also protecting the basketball at a much higher rate.

The Tigers averaged 11.8 turnovers per game in their first four outings of the conference slate, but they reduced it to 8.0 turnovers per game in their last four. Auburn committed nine in its win over Florida, and they had just three turnovers against Texas earlier this week, which tied the program record for fewest turnovers in a game.

Limiting turnovers will lead to fast-break points in transition for the opposing team, which could potentially be a recipe for disaster if they are able to capitalize – especially on the road in tough environments.

Finally Making Free Throws (For the Most Part)

Despite missing 10 free throws on Wednesday against the Longhorns, Auburn is finally starting to cash in at the foul line.

In the first four performances of league play, the Tigers shot 70.6% from the charity stripe, including a poor 67.0% from the line at Georgia. However, that statistic has seen some crucial improvement, as Auburn is shooting 80.8% from the line in the last four.

One of the more prominent storylines from their win over the Gators last weekend came in the free throw battle, as Auburn went 19-of-21 and Florida ended 16-of-27.

This will be uber-important down the stretch for the Tigers, as they lead the nation in both free throws attempted (28.8) and free throws made (21.3) per game. Especially with senior standout Keyshawn Hall, who seemingly draws a foul on what feels like every possession, Auburn will need to hit its free throws in late-game situations if it wants to reach its ceiling.