Auburn Tigers Need ‘Same Sense of Urgency’ Against Kent State

Regardless of the opponent, the Auburn Tigers need to being to this game the level of play they did against Houston

The Auburn Tigers need to bring their A-game against Kent State just like any other opponent / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The now-ranked No. 5 Auburn Tigers put the college basketball world on notice on Saturday when they picked up a 74-69 win over the now-ranked No. 8 Houston Cougars.

Auburn (2-0) was led to victory by a dominant performance from freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford as well as veteran big man Johni Broome who posted 21 and 20 points respectively.

The Tigers have had time to enjoy the signature win, but now it is time to turn the page. Auburn hosts the Kent State Golden Flashes (2-0) at Neville Arena tonight.

Kent State beat Miami (OH)-Hamilton 98-53 in its last outing. VonCameron Davis and Cli’Ron Hornbeak co-led the Golden Flashes in scoring with 18 points each.

Coming off a big win, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl knows how important it will be for his team to keep the energy up to avoid a potential letdown.

“For us, it’s going to be, can we play with that same energy, same sense of urgency?” Pearl said. “If you didn’t put yourself in the right place at the right time against Houston, they were going to make you pay. Of course, that’s what you have to do to survive an opponent like that. But we’d like to play that way every night.”

As he does before taking on every opponent, Pearl expressed how much respect he has for Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff.

“We’ve got a Kent State team coming in that was picked third in the MAC, that’s been to the NCAA Tournament several times,” Pearl said. “Their coach (Senderoff) has beaten power five teams, I think, four times at Kent State in his career on the road.”

Pearl hopes to see Pettiford build on the success he had against Houston with another stellar outing against Kent State tonight.

“I’m happy for him (Pettiford),” Pearl said. “Being a little undersized, people have always respected Tahaad (Pettiford)’s game, but he’s always had to look up to a bunch of other guys in his class that were just prototypically bigger, stronger, more highly-rated. That never bothered Tahaad (Pettiford).”

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT. Click here for everything you need to know about the game and how to tune in. Auburn Tigers Need ‘Same Sense of Urgency’ Against Kent State