After an exhibition victory over in state division II opponent Montevallo last week, Bruce Pearl and the Tigers look to pick up their first regular season win on Friday as they host North Florida.
Many consider Auburn's 2016-2017 schedule to be one of the toughest in the conference. The Tigers will be tested early and often, starting with a game one matchup with the Ospreys.
Bruce Pearl will be entering his 35th season of coaching, and third at Auburn.
“You would think after coaching for 35 years, I think this is my 35th season in coaching, that I would be a little less anxious than I was years ago but I’m still just as anxious as we get ready to get started and tip things off and see where we’re at,” Pearl said.
North Florida, last years Athletic conference regular season champions, led the nation in three-point field goals last season. The Ospreys also return their best player in Dallas Moore, a 6-foot-1 guard that averaged nearly 20 points last season while shooting 39.5 percent from behind the arc. Moore, last seasons ASUN player of the year, looks to lead the Ospreys to the tournament again after the departure of three starters from last season.
Beyond being one of the best three-point shooting teams in the conference, the Ospreys return two of their best assist makers from last season in Moore who recorded 205, and forward Chris Davenport who added 109 assists.
Another player that will see major minutes for North Florida is Aaron Bodager, a 6-foot-5 guard, who shot 47 percent from behind the arc last season for the Ospreys.
The Tigers will rely heavily on their depth this season, something that Auburn has not had in years. Pearl will continue to have a 10 man rotation, as he did in last Friday's exhibition against Montevallo.
“I just think that my focus is them to focus on that effort and energy," Pearl said. "Nothing we do works well when you play 10 guys unless we come out flying."
“Two weeks ago when we got back from Chattanooga I felt really good about our effort and our energy. I thought last week we had dropped back some and you don’t like to drop back when you’ve got such a young team. You would like to be able to continue to move forward, but that’s not realistic. I believe in the formula of how we’re doing things and I still believe in the formula of how we schedule as we sit here before we get ready to tip off.”
Auburn and North Florida tip off on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. CST. in Auburn Arena, and can be seen on the SEC Network Alternate.
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