A Dive Into No. 16 LSU Basketball's SEC Opener With No. 11 Auburn
As the Tigers prepare for conference play, it all starts against the No. 11 ranked Auburn Tigers, arguably the most put together team in the SEC. With head coach Bruce Pearl at the helm, his team has come out the gate with something to prove, going 11-1 through the team’s first 12 games of the season.
Auburn's only loss was to UConn 115-109 in double overtime back on Nov. 24 in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in The Bahamas.
Led by freshman sensation, and potential top five pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Jabari Smith, this team is lethal on both ends of the floor. The 6-foot-10, 210-pound forward is the engine that keeps this Auburn team going, using his length to alter shots defensively, but his polished offensive game is what makes him such a force.
A coveted five-star recruit out of high school, Coach Pearl hit the lottery by signing Smith, who has taken this Auburn team to another level and inserted his name in the No. 1 pick conversation. It’ll be imperative LSU uses their bigs to limit the touches of Smith. His ability to stretch the floor and score at all three levels, shooting the three-ball at a 45% clip, is why Smith is soaring up NBA Draft boards.
Efton Reid and Darius Days will have their work cut out for them to stop the freshman phenom, but this Auburn roster from top to bottom is effective. Lead guard K.D. Johnson is the muscle for this team, doing the dirty work to give extra possessions offensively. A scrappy, do it all player for Auburn, Johnson hustles on every play, really giving his all defensively.
Averaging two steals per game, it’ll be important for the Bayou Bengals to play smart and limit the cross court passes or Johnson will eat them alive. Head coach Will Wade has talked about the turnover issues over the last few games and despite starting out 12-0 this season, he knows these mental mistakes won’t fly come SEC play, especially against such a gifted defender like K.D. Johnson.
LSU has come out gunning offensively through their first twelve games, scoring the ball at will, but the defensive energy of Auburn will be a major factor Wednesday night. The one-two punch in the paint of Smith and Walker Kessler is something to monitor. The North Carolina transfer, Kessler, is sending shots into the stands at will, averaging 3.7 blocks per contest.
Relying on the three is what Will Wade has dreaded of his Tigers, but with the paint full of lengthy shot blockers in the SEC opener, it may come down to who is shooting the ball at the most efficient clip.
It’s going to be a fun backcourt matchup between these two squads. With Xavier Pinson and Eric Gaines battling it out against Auburn’s K.D. Johnson and Wendell Green Jr., it’s going to be a heavyweight battle that any basketball fan should be excited to watch go down.
Not to mention the paint presence of Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler looking to assert their inside dominance against Efton Reid, Darius Days and the versatile Tari Eason, who can play both inside and out.
Eason has shown up through non-conference play, averaging a little over 16 points per game, but now with the lights brightest, now is where the gifted scorer needs to turn it up a notch. Wade said Monday night that Eason is feeling much better and is on course to play after missing the Tigers game against Lipscomb with a sore back.
LSU kicks off a rigorous seven-game stretch Wednesday, setting the tone for what is to come in conference play, so it’s imperative to get things started on the right note. Coach Will Wade’s squad has their work cut out for them against a fiery Auburn team, but this team is more than ready to showcase their talent in order to continue climbing up the rankings.
With tipoff set for 6:00 PM Wednesday night at Auburn, this LSU group is battle tested and more than prepared to prove to the SEC they’ve arrived and have all the makings to win this conference.
