‘Just Staying Prepared’ Will Help Auburn Conquer Tough SEC Slate

The SEC might be as loaded as it's ever been. The Tigers know what they need to do in order to maintain a high level of play.

Readiness will be key to conquering Auburn's conference schedule / John Reed-Imagn Images

After making it through the non-conference portion of its schedule that featured matchups against seven Quad 1 opponents with one blemish on an otherwise perfect record, the Auburn Tigers is geared up for SEC play.

The SEC is loaded this season. 10 of its members checked into the latest AP Poll and five of them - No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Auburn, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Florida and No. 10 Kentucky - were included in the top 10. Additionally, Missouri, who Auburn takes on Saturday afternoon to open conference play, and Georiga are receiving votes.

Auburn, who has already taken on five ranked opponents and one who was receiving votes, will have 14 more games fitting that criteria as of now.

A contributor to Auburn’s early success has been freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford whose college career could not have had a much better start. Pettiford is aware of what the Tigers need to do in order to survive the remainder of what could end up being the most difficult schedule in program history.

“Just staying prepared,” Pettiford said. “Going to every game with the mindset that we know that we can beat them and just coming out ready. We know every week it's going to be a tough game. ”

None of Auburn’s six contests against Quad 1 opponents so far this season have been home games. It took on No. 16 Purdue at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., but that is the closest it had to home-court advantage in one of those games.

On the other hand, Auburn has a game under its belt in arguably the most hostile environment in college basketball. The Tigers narrowly fell to No. 9 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in their only loss of the season to this point.

Having played in a game like that goes a long way toward preparing Auburn for other hostile environments it will enter during the SEC portion of its schedule. These include Alabama’s Coleman Coliseum where the Tigers will play on Feb. 15 and Kentucky’s Rupp Arena for their penultimate game of the regular season on March 1.

In addition to learning how to operate in a hostile environment, Auburn had numerous chances to learn the ropes of playing in neutral-site contests, an experience that will pay dividends when the SEC and NCAA Tournaments come around.

» No. 2-ranked Auburn (12-1) rings in the New Year as the SEC gauntlet begins with a hungry Missouri (11-2) squad presenting the first conference test on Saturday at Neville Arena.

» After enduring the toughest non-conference slate in program history, the Tigers prepare for what could be the toughest conference season in college basketball history. All 16 SEC teams enter league play with double-digit wins including the only three remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I: Florida (13-0), Oklahoma (13-0) and Tennessee (13-0).

» With a win on Saturday, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl can tie Joel Eaves for the most career coaching victories in program history (213). One of the deans of the SEC with 17 years combined at Tennessee (6 seasons) and Auburn (11 seasons), Pearl currently ranks No. 11 among active NCAA Division I head coaches in career wins (674) and is tied for No. 43 all-time with Lon Kruger.

» Auburn has compiled an all-time record of 660-775 (.460) against SEC competition including a 90-83 mark under Coach Pearl.

» AU is 42-49 all-time in SEC openers since the league’s first season in 1932-33. The Tigers have won three-straight SEC openers after defeating Arkansas on the road, 83-51, in last year’s SEC opener.

» Auburn remains No. 1 in the latest KenPom rankings, but No. 2 in the last five consecutive weeks in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.

» Since the 2016-17 season, the Tigers boast the best win percentage (.861) against non-conference opponents among SEC schools with a 93-15 overall record. They closed out non-conference play with an 87-58 victory over Monmouth to extend the program’s win streak to 60 consecutive games against non-conference foes at home.

» The Tigers have sold out the last 61-straight home games at Neville Arena (9,121) and are 51-3 overall in the venue over the last four seasons: 2021-22 (16-0), 2022-23 (14-2), 2023-24 (15-1) and 2024-25 (6-0).

MISSOURI AT-A-GLANCE

» Missouri upset then No.1 Kansas, 76-67, in Columbia on Dec. 8. The Tigers’ only losses were an 8-point loss at Memphis and 3-point neutral-site loss to Illinois.

» Mizzou has already won three more games than it won all of last season.

» The Tigers lead the country averaging 21.2 made free throws and is second averaging 29.2 free throw attempts per game. They are also ninth nationally shooting 50.9 percent from the floor.

» Missouri leads the country averaging 41.38 bench points per game and is 10th in scoring offense (87.3 ppg). Auburn boasts the fifth-best scoring offense (88.3).

» Mizzou is No. 8 nationally averaging 10.3 steals per game.

» The Tigers have four players scoring in double figures. They are led by Mark Mitchell (a junior transfer from Duke), who is averaging 13.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest.

AUBURN IN SEC OPENERS

» Auburn is 42-49 all-time in SEC openers since the league’s first season in 1932-33. The Tigers have won three-straight SEC openers. They are 22-18 when opening league play at home.

» Under Bruce Pearl, the Tigers are 6-4 in SEC openers including 3-2 when opening conference play at home. This is the first time Auburn has opened SEC play against Missouri.

INSIDE THE SERIES

» Auburn leads 8-6 in the all-time series with Missouri. The Tigers are winners of the last four-straight meetings between the two schools including a 101-74 road victory on March 5, 2024 in Columbia, Mo.

» Three of the Tigers’ wins during their current four-game winning streak over Mizzou have come by at least 23 points and the four wins have come by an average of 21.0 points. The Tigers lead 3-1 in Auburn, including 3-0 under Pearl, with all four games played at Neville Arena.

» Coach Pearl is 8-5 against Missouri in his head coaching career, including 8-4 while coaching Auburn and 0-1 at Southern Indiana after a 77-62 loss in Columbia, Mo., during the 1992-93 season, his first year at Southern Indiana. He is 4-0 against Missouri at Neville Arena.

» In head-to-head career matchups with Missouri head coach Dennis Gates, Coach Pearl is 2-0 with both games coming in matchups between Auburn and Missouri. AU won 89-56 at home in 2023 and 101-74 in Columbia last season.

SETTING THE STANDARD IN THE SEC

» Auburn’s streak of three consecutive seasons with double-digit SEC wins is tied with Kentucky for the second-longest active streak in the conference, just one behind Tennessee.

» The Tigers’ six seasons with at least 10 SEC wins over the last seven seasons are tied with the Wildcats and Volunteers for the most in the league over that period.

» Kentucky (87), Tennessee (86) and Auburn (81) are the only teams that have won 80 SEC games over the last seven seasons.

SIDEBARS

» Freshman Jahki Howard (City Reapers) will reunite with former Overtime Elite alum Peyton Marshall (RWE), who is a 7-foot freshman center for Missouri. Howard was a featured cast member in Season 1 of the Amazon Prime six-part docuseries “One Shot: Overtime Elite.”

» Missouri Associate Head Coach Charlton “C.Y.” Young is the father of Auburn women’s basketball redshirt sophomore guard Audia Young. He also served as a former men’s basketball assistant coach on The Plains during the 1996-97 and 2000-04 seasons. His wife, Carolyn Jones-Young (1988-91), was a is a two-time All-American and 1991 SEC Player of the Year who led Auburn to a pair of Final Four appearances. She was also a member of the 1992 United States Olympic Bronze Medal National Team and played for the Portland Fire of the WNBA. Her No. 21 jersey is retired in the rafters of Neville Arena.

PLAYER TO WATCH: DYLAN CARDWELL

» Graduate senior center Dylan Cardwell recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and career-high 11 rebounds against Monmouth on Dec. 30. He claimed his 100th career win in an Auburn uniform in a school-record 141 career games played.

» Cardwell currently forms one of the most dominant front courts in the country with All-American teammate Johni Broome. He is one of four players who has started and played in every game this season and is averaging a career-best 6.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest.

» Both Cardwell and Broome registered a double-double against Monmouth. They become the first Auburn players to record a double-double in the same game since Broome (19 points and 12 rebounds) and Allen Flanigan (10 points and 10 rebounds) did so against Iowa in the 2023 NCAA Tournament First Round.

» “Mr. Auburn” is 13 wins away from tying Jaylin Williams – the all-time winningest player in program history.