Auburn Getting Key Veteran Back in Time for Houston Matchup

The Auburn Tigers are getting a veteran back who suffered an injury during an exhibition game

Auburn is getting a key player back for a key matchup on the schedule | John Reed-Imagn Images

AUBURN, Ala.- The Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team has been without their transfer center Keyshawn Murphy in their previous two matchups against Merrimack and Wofford, but is set to make his return against the top-ranked Houston Cougars on Sunday afternoon. 

Murphy was injured in Auburn’s exhibition game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys and did not return that game. He injured his knee and hip flexor against the Cowboys and has been nursing it since. Murphy, however, did play in the Tigers’ opening night matchup against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, where he scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and had four assists. Murphy shot 88.9% from the field in that matchup. 

Unfortunately for Murphy, the injury came back to haunt him after the game, and Auburn head coach Steven Pearl decided not to play him so that he could fully recover from the injury. 

Keyshawn Hall has been carrying a lot of the offense’s weight in all of Auburn’s regular-season games. But he knows that having a veteran center like Murphy will only boost the odds of Auburn pulling off the upset. 

“I think it is going to be very big for us,” Hall said about having Murphy back on the court. 

“Murphy is an experienced big man, especially in the SEC, so he understands all of the physical play. I think he has played Houston, too, so he knows what is going to go on. That's going to be good for Emeka (Opurum) and Filip (Jović) to look at him and watch him play and see how active he is in ball screens and how physical he is and gets rebounds. And he brings a lot of energy, he is a vocal leader for us, so that is going to be good for us too.”

Murphy has not played against the Cougars in his career thus far, but he has faced top competition in the SEC, including last season’s national champion, the Florida Gators. 

Although Houston is unique in its own way, the SEC is still one of, if not the most physical, conferences in all of college basketball. Having three seasons in the SEC brings a veteran presence that not many of the team members say they have. 

Murphy returns to the lineup for the first time since Auburn’s season opener and will look to build off the momentum he started building in that matchup to help his squad get the upset win against the top-ranked Houston Cougars.