Auburn Men's Basketball is entering SEC play with the most talented team Bruce Pearl has coached in his time on the Plains. On Thursday, the 10-2 Tigers will be playing host to conference foe Georgia, a team that is 8-4 on the year.
Freshman point guard Jared Harper is coming off a very hot week, and was named SEC freshman of the week after averaging nearly 22 points per game against both Oklahoma and UConn. Auburn won both contests in Connecticut, proving the Tigers ability to compete with nationally renown programs. The team's new addition of center Austin Wiley has paid dividends for the rebounding struggle the Tigers faced. The 17-year-old is averaging 7.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 1.3 blocks per game. Wiley has only played 3 games, but his ceiling for the 6-foot-11 center does not have a limit. Wiley now has more practices under his belt, and will continue to find his niche with the team. Mustapha Heron and Danjel Purifoy have been go-to players for Coach Pearl all year. Heron has been the Tigers most prolific scorer this year, averaging 15.9 points per contest. Heron's versatility is what has the Tigers rolling. The freshman shooting guard is also averaging 6.8 rebounds per game, and leads the team in PPG and RPG. Danjel Purifoy is the team's second leading scorer with 14.7 points a contest. Purifoy has been deadly from behind the arc, shooting 39 percent on the year. Purifoy's pick and pop ability has been a deadly combination for Pearls squad. Whenever Harper and Purifoy have a pick & roll scenario, the end of the play has usually resulted in points.
The Tigers as a team have been getting to the line 27 times a game and shooting 70% from the line on the year. Auburn has also had a pesky defense all year averaging a plus 3.7 turnover margin. Jared Harper has 21 steals on the year and looks to bump his 1.75 steals per game average up. Veteran T.J. Dunans has been the most productive player off of the bench this year. Dunans is effectively able to use his lanky size to provide a playmaking spark plug in the Tigers time of need. Bench players Ronnie Johnson, Anfernee Mclemore, LaRon Smith and TJ Lang have all been key contributors when their number has been called. Former starters Bryce Brown and Horace Spencer are nearly done with their suspensions and will look to improve the Tigers as a unit even more. Spencer played very little in the Tigers last game vs UConn. Bryce Brown has seen no time since the suspensions were announced.
This young team is fun, fast and ready to compete in the SEC. They love to get in transition and look to score quickly. The Tigers first SEC game is against a Georgia team that believes they are better then their record suggests. Auburn will have to stop Yante Maten for a victory. Maten is averaging 21 points per game, shooting 58 percent on the year and 47 percent from 3. Maten is also averaging 8.5 boards a game and is a force to be reckoned with down low. The Tigers must slow down the versatile big Maten to win this game.
Tip-off for the conference opener vs. Georgia is set for Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. in Auburn Arena. The contest can be seen on ESPNU.
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