Following a loss at home to Georgia on Tuesday, Auburn (10-9, 4-6 in SEC) will have to regroup and get ready to host Ole Miss (9-8, 4-6 in SEC) on Saturday.
In January, Auburn traveled to Ole Miss for the first of two meetings between the schools. In that matchup, the Rebels handed Auburn a 72-61 loss. The Tigers turned the ball over 16 times in that contest and never held the lead once.
Head coach Bruce Pearl wants to fix that issue by Saturday.
“They're No. 2 (in the SEC) in forcing turnovers, so we have historically turned it over against them,” Pearl said. “They get a lot of offense out of their defense. We’ve got to be locked in defensively.”
Forcing turnovers is what Ole Miss does best and what Auburn is highly susceptible to. Through 17 games, the Rebels have forced opponents to turn the ball over 289 times, good for 17 per contest. Ole Miss is also fourth in the SEC in steals with 143.
Auburn has turned the ball over 311 times in 19 games and is averaging 16.4 turnovers per game this season.
Depth is also on the side of the Rebels. In the first game between the two, Ole Miss played 10 players and got 34 points off the bench compared to Auburn's nine.
Ole Miss heads into Saturday's contest with momentum after defeating No. 11 Tennessee 52-50 on Tuesday. Ole Miss held the Volunteers to 16-of-45 shooting and forced 16 turnovers.
“They were better than Tennessee that night," Pearl said. "Bigger, stronger, beat Tennessee at their own game. They're the No. 2 defensive team in the league. Tennessee's the best defensive team in the league. It was an absolute dogfight. Ole Miss, by virtue of the fact that they're going to play in the 50s and 60s, they're going to be in every game.”
As for Auburn’s adjustments against the Rebels, Pearl said his team simply needs to protect down low. Against Georgia, the Tigers allowed 52 points around the rim.
Pearl said his team needs to guard far better against a “physical, scrappy, tough” senior-laden Rebel squad.
The Tigers, looking to snap a two-game losing skid, will be facing an uphill battle Saturday against a team Bruce Pearl thinks is on the rise.
“Ole Miss, they could be a team that could make a run at the end of the year,” Pearl said.
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