Auburn’s SEC Championship aspirations just might be out of reach.
The Tigers’ recent three-game skid has pushed Auburn outside the AP Top 25 rankings for the first time in 22 weeks, dropping the team to ninth in the conference.
Now sitting at 13-6 (2-4 SEC), the Tigers are searching for answers on how to turn it around and salvage what they can out of this season.
To find some answers into why Auburn is struggling as of late, sports reporter Zach Tantillo looks into the trends of the Tigers’ three-game losing streak.
In the past three games, there have been a few evident trends into maybe why Auburn has been struggling. The most obvious being that the Tigers' defense has been suspect and has allowed at least 80 points to its opponents during the losing streak.
“The biggest thing that is ailing us is our defense,” head coach Bruce Pearl said. “We statistically rank near the top of our league offensively. Nationally, we’re in the top 15-20 in most offensive categories. If you score 80 points per game, you should win.”
The Tigers have only allowed 80 points or more in five games this season, with three of the five coming during this current three-game skid — including a season-high 92 points allowed in their most recent loss against Mississippi State.
A big part of Auburn’s opponent’s offensive success could be tied to the absence of the Tigers’ defensive anchor, Austin Wiley.
“No excuses,“ Pearl said following Auburn’s loss against Mississippi State. “We’ve got good players at those positions. Austin’s been out three games. I think we’re 0-3 without him. We’ve got to find a way to win without him.”
Wiley’s absence has been felt during the losing streak by leaving a big hole in the Tigers’ interior defense as he is the rebounding leader and blocks leader while only averaging 17.4 minutes a game.
The 6-foot-11 center’s injury has left it open for teams to get easier shots inside on the smaller bigs for Auburn. Without his presence roaming the paint, teams have not been scared to take the ball inside against Auburn because of the lack of multiple shot blockers.
Heading into Kentucky, Auburn averaged over six blocks a game, but during the three-game losing streak, the Tigers’ blocks-per-game average has nearly been cut in half.
The lack of size down low has also hurt Auburn’s ability to rebound the basketball with the Tigers getting out-rebounded on the offensive glass and on total rebounds against all three recent opponents.
In the three losses, Auburn failed to eclipse double-digit offensive rebounds — a figure the team only has failed to reach twice before in the season. South Carolina and Mississippi State grabbed double-digit offensive rebounds against Auburn, and the Tigers are 11 for 17 in keeping opponents under 10 offensive rebounds in other games this season.
Obviously, the poor performance on the offensive boards has had a negative impact on the overall rebounding of the team with Auburn getting out-rebounded 24-32, 30-34 and 25-28 during the losing streak.
Another trend that is related to the uptick in opponent offense and suspect Auburn defense is that teams have shot the ball incredibly well against the Tigers.
As a whole, Kentucky, South Carolina and Mississippi State shot 49.4 percent from the field, with South Carolina being the only team to shoot below 50 percent.
The defense is not the only thing that is reeling right now either, the offense is taking less shots in this losing streak compared to rest of the season. During the last three games, Auburn is averaging 11 less shots and five less 3-pointers per game than what it averaged in the first 16 games.
The shot percentage of Auburn has not suffered much but the lack of shots being taken, matched with the defense having its worst stretch of the season, has put the Tigers in a tough spot.
Not only is this poorly-timed losing streak affected Auburn’s standings in the conference but if the losing streak continues, it has a chance to have an impact on its tournament rankings as well. Currently, the Tigers find themselves as a 7-seed in Joe Lunardi’s ESPN Bracketology.
A bounce-back campaign with a stretch of home games on the mend and a realization of the trends the team has succumbed to could have the Tigers poised for a strong finish to the season.
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