What did Chad Baker-Mazara have to say before the Alabama game?

What did the Auburn forward have to say before the second edition of the 2024 Iron Bowl of Basketball?

The No. 12 Auburn Tigers host the No. 16 Alabama Crimson Tide at Neville Arena tomorrow.

What did Auburn forward Chad Baker-Mazara have to say before the game?

Baker-Mazara made an impactful speech in the locker room during halftime of the Ole Miss game. He elaborated on what he said to the team.

“We played them once already here and I was judging them based on that," Baker-Mazara said. "I was like, ‘No way we just destroyed them right here and then we go out there and get destroyed.’ I was like, ‘Hey guys, this is probably the best half of basketball they ever will play. They can’t play better than this. So they can either play the same if we let them or play worse if we stop them.’ I feel like the guys took that to heart. Man, we came out of there and we was rolling in the second half."

Baker-Mazara talked about what Auburn needs to do to pick up the win tomorrow.

"Hit shots," Baker-Mazara said. "Hit shots and feel like we wasn’t as locked in, we let the outside, let it bother us a little bit. Just make sure we run our stuff. I think we let them bother us a little bit. They were playing a little bit more physical. We let that get to our head. Now they’re coming to The Jungle. We’ll see how it goes."

Baker-Mazara talked about the importance of playing at home.

"I feel like at home, we’ve played a couple away games and at home, everybody’s got superpowers for some reason," Baker-Mazara said. "Everybody starts hitting more shots. A lot of that has to do with the fans. I love them, but I don’t know when you feel at home, you feel like you got a little more swagger in you. You're confident cause you know the crowd got your back. We want to keep it undefeated, not lose at home at all. I don’t never want to give the home fans that feeling."

Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT. The television broadcast can be found on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network broadcast can be streamed anywhere on the Auburn Athletics app.